The Village of Monsters, Men and SOULs
by Jarvis R. Yeriel
Summary: Picks up where the Soulless Pacifist Ending left off, and answers a few fundamental questions: how far would Frisk's friends go to help him if they knew the truth about Chara and her role in the Genocide Timeline? How would things be different in the world of Shinobi, where a certain Genin would go just as far for a friend's sake? What became of Dr. Gaster and the Anomaly? Read on.
1. Author's Notes

Author's Notes

Alright, so I haven't updated my Fairy Tail/Gravity Falls FanFic in a while. One, because I've been keeping up with my college classes as well as I should be (which combined with my job, leaves time for little else). Two, because it's more or less remained ignored. Three, I've gotten a little bored with it.

The fourth reason, however, is the story you've opened just now. I haven't watched or read much of Naruto, nor have I played Undertale. However, I've read up on the Naruto universe through TvTropes and other FanFictions on this site (I would recommend "A Growing Affection" by Xavon Wrentaile). Moreover, I've also read up on Undertale through TvTropes, and I saw a well-done web animation called Glitchtale.

Suffice to say, I've learned enough about both fandoms to fall in love with the characters (and stories) of both. Naruto is an anime that is arguably the greatest work of art among its medium, and Undertale has _absolutely_ achieved that feat in the area of video games. So, if Gravity Falls and Fairy Tail are _among_ the best in terms of their artistic quality, Naruto and Undertale are the sort of stories that, if they aren't each _the_ best of their mediums, then they must be somewhere in the top five, if not the top three.

My point is that these two franchises now have my attention. And once I learned about both, my muse furiously raised its hand like a teacher's pet with an important question, and then proceeded to spit out the main idea that inspired this story.

Sadly, I have more homework to do for today, and tomorrow I have work for the first half of the day. But hopefully I will be ahead of my workload soon enough, and then I can start writing again. So, rather than waste any more time rambling, I'll share the bedrock concept for this story.

* * *

In short order, this story will place the universes of Naruto and Undertale on the same planet, with Undertale taking place on an island near the Land of Water. Moreover, the monsters of the Underground will be the results of all the Tailed Beasts and other super-powerful demons having children with mortals (a lot like the Greek/Roman gods did). That will explain how monsters can wield magic/Jutsu (this story will treat them as the same thing) with as much ease as they do in Undertale, while humans can't do squat (like Frisk) unless they're trained to use Chakra (like all our favorite ninjas). Moreover, the monsters were locked away in the Underground largely out of prejudice, but this story will have them live there long enough for Naruto's generation to not really care about the reasons for their imprisonment (mostly).

Also, since this is one of my stories, it will contain a lot of improvised head-canons that, though they aren't official, are designed to make sense of this crossover's mixing story elements. So if something seemingly contradictory to either story's lore happens, just chalk it up to an AU-type difference and keep in mind that it will most likely be explained in time.

Finally, there are a few things I need to clarify right away. First, I am characterizing Frisk as a boy and Chara as a girl. After all, Chara's overall characterization fits the bill for a girl (the warmer-colored shirt, the feminine blush on her face, the cut of her hair, etc.). Moreover, Frisk doesn't really seem that way at all. It may be left ambiguous in the game, but cooler colors (like the bluish-purple of Frisk's shirt) are typically indicative of a more masculine/boyish style, and his facial expression definitely seemed like more of a boy's face (seriously, how many girls have you seen that walk around with this look on their face: -_-). But most importantly, the description given for the cowboy hat is a dead give-away. To wit, what the Hell kind of a girl would "...want to grow a beard"?

I'm not trying to be a misogynist, or base my decisions on clichés. I'm just trying my best to flesh out Frisk and Chara as separate characters. Sure, they share a body in the game's time-frame, but they still started out as separate people. The difference in gender is just my way of capitalizing that difference, because it's going to be a _big_ plot point during the first part of the story.

So, that's all I really have to say. I hope I'll get a more active response this time around, since this story's POV character won't be a Deconstructed Mary Sue (like the main character of my _other_ crossover FanFic). Just let me know what you think and I'll see you in a few days or so when I release chapter one.


	2. Nightmares

Welp, I must be doing something right, since it only took about an hour for this story to get its first review. So, to show my gratitude, I'll go ahead and post the first chapter, which will do as the summary promised: "Picking up where the Soulless Pacifist Ending left off". But first, I'll answer my first honored reviewer.

-kaylafike500: Well, that question has a somewhat complicated answer. This chapter (and by extension, the Soulless Pacifist Ending) will take place several years after Naruto's birth and several years before Episode One of the anime. For reasons that will make sense by the beginning of chapter three, a time-skip of several months will ensue before the first "arc" of this crossover, right in between chapters two and three. Moreover, the end of that arc will take place a few weeks before Naruto joins the Academy. I probably should've included that in my Author's Notes, but hey, we all make mistakes, so we might as well move on. If you want a concrete answer, though, Naruto is currently a few months younger than he was upon joining the Academy.

Okay, with that out of the way, let's get to it.

* * *

Chapter 1: Nightmares

Even after several months, Frisk still dreamt of his last day in the Underground. It never happened more often than once every other night, but it was always the same. Frisk couldn't seem to forget his encounter with Asriel. The expressions of rage, pain and loneliness that had crossed his face, all vaguely reminiscent of Flowey's… The profoundly touching words he had spoken in the final moments before he lost his body… Even the hug they had shared. Try as he might, Frisk couldn't seem to completely remove them from his mind.

He had a feeling Chara had a lot to do with that. From the moment Asriel regained his true form, Chara's presence had spoken and reacted with conspicuous agitation from within Frisk. Her consciousness had even seemed genuinely sad when Frisk had chosen to comfort Asriel, to the point that right before Asriel left, she actually said "Goodbye" from inside Frisk's head, as if the former prince could hear her. But Frisk wasn't confused about why Chara had acted in such a way. The tapes Frisk found in the True Lab made perfect sense of it. Chara and Asriel had been adoptive siblings, and effectively viewed each other as childhood friends.

But on one night in particular, Frisk did not dream of that day. Instead, he dreamt about his last day _before_ falling into the Underground. That day had been the worst day of Frisk's life, and constituted the one reason he had agreed to stay with his monstrous friends indefinitely. On that day, Frisk's former home was destroyed by the Eight–Tails: Gyūki. Frisk had fled for his life as his sea-side hometown met its destruction, and fell into the Underground less than a day later.

It was the same scenario he had relived before: the leviathan rising out of the sea, the specialized team of foreign Shinobi rushing to subdue it, his parents screaming at him to run when the demon reached the shore… they were all things that had haunted Frisk before, shaping his resolve to help and protect anyone he could.

Despite the terror those memories elicited within the boy, they were what inspired him to do all the good that he could, and make all the friends that he had. All of his other loved ones were gone, so he had to rely on others in their stead. And what was the point in seeking out friends and family if you didn't treat them like friends or family? Frisk understood, inasmuch that a child his age could, that he had no way of undoing his parents' fate: he'd already tried using his ability to RESET for that. Instead, the child subconsciously projected that resolve into others, seeing every good deed as something done for his village.

This time, however, the dream was different. Neither Frisk nor his family could escape, and they were soon facing the Eight-Tails itself. But just before Frisk's dream-self met his demise, a flash of green intercepted the creature's advance. Gyūki roared in pain, as a line of blood began oozing from his huge face.

" **What in the blazes**?!" he bellowed, looking down at the figure who had attacked. Frisk gasped: it was Chara.

"Oh, you must be one of Frisk's memories. Now I understand how Frisk wound up in the Underground." Chara giggled innocently. No doubt her trademark smile accompanied her condescending words.

" **Humph. I'm not sure what you're getting at, human, but I won't ignore an attacking challenge like that.** " The beast growled, and immediately thrust his tentacles towards the girl. With agility Frisk had not seen since their battle against Sans, Chara leaped high into the air, almost to the same height as her demonic opponent's head. Not wasting a second, Chara swung her crimson dagger, the Real Knife, forward as if in a downward strike. Halfway through her attack, Chara was propelled forward as if tied to a cannonball by her knife-hand. In less than a second, she had buried the blade squarely in Gyūki's forehead, leading to him roaring in pain once again. Chara scurried down his back, giggling some more. Frisk's parents had vanished, and the ruins of the village had melted away into an empty field.

" **How is this possible?! I've never seen such power from a human! You haven't used any Jutsu!** " The demon snarled indignantly, and then once again barked in pain.

"You really are an idiot. In Frisk's mind, I have total control over everything. I could have erased this dream completely if I wanted, but what fun would that be?" Chara taunted, sliding through the demon's tentacles and launching several fuchsia energy blasts at them, in the shape of severed fingernails. Half a dozen of Gyūki's tentacles fell to the ground.

" **RRRGH! You little brat!** " he roared in pained fury. Leaping back almost fifty feet, the monster reared its head back.

" **Tailed Beast Ball!** " Gyūki bellowed, unleashing a massive, yellow-green beam of energy from his mouth, directly at Chara. The girl just laughed maniacally and slashed her knife down once again. Another energy arc, one as tall as her opponent, emerged from her blade. The last time Frisk had felt more energy from one of Chara's attacks, she had destroyed all of space-time in one blow. In this case, however, the attack cleaved through the Tailed-Beast's attack and continued all the way through his body, cutting him neatly in half. Soon after, he disintegrated into ashes and Chakra.

"Humph. I thought fighting one of your nightmares would be more fun, Frisk." Chara pouted, turning back and approaching the boy. As she did, their surroundings melted away into the same inky darkness that had surrounded them while they spoke with the Anomaly, during the last timeline. With the aberration gone, Frisk's focus returned.

"What do you want, Chara?" he muttered darkly. The girl giggled again.

"What do you mean, Frisk? You've already given me what I want: your SOUL. Then again, you technically weren't the one who gave it to me," She tittered. "If you want to know _why I'm here_ , I thought you would already know." Frisk narrowed his eyes.

"Why would I know? I've never understood you, Chara. All you ever think about is…" Suddenly, Chara's words made sense as Frisk nearly spoke the answer aloud.

"Y-you're here to take back control aren't you?" Frisk whispered, the blood draining from his face. The girl clapped happily.

"Tee hee hee hee hee… I was worried you actually wouldn't know. Then I wouldn't get to see that priceless look of horrified, dawning comprehension on your face. But really, did you _honestly_ believe I would let it end this way?" Chara's reddish-brown eyes melted away into empty sockets. Even without any pupils or irises, the girl was regarding Frisk with a look of obvious gloating.

"I will never forget what we did. Even if the Anomaly tried to stop us, there's nothing to stop us from doing it all over again." She cackled, an edge of sadistic glee lining her voice. Frisk shook his head vigorously.

"No, Chara. I'm not going to let you hurt my friends again." Frisk spat, readying the same Determination with which he had opposed Asriel. The girl let out another chilling laugh.

"You won't _let_ me? You sound just like the Anomaly, Frisk. After all, _since when were_ _ **you**_ _the one in control_?" The dream dissolved, and Frisk's eyes were forced open. His vision was tinted red, and his body felt as insubstantial as it did in his dreams.

' _Finally_ …' Chara's voice whispered in his mind, and with that Chara let out a horrifying, maniacal laugh using Frisk's voice. The sound frightened Frisk even more than the laughter of Flowey's six-SOUL form.

"Now that I'm in control again, I suppose I ought to start by teaching you a lesson in submission, Frisk," Chara spoke aloud, in _his_ voice, as she climbed out of Frisk's bed. The boy's blood ran cold. "I'm going to SAVE here, and use that SAVE FILE to kill your friends again, and again, and again, until you take a hint. Your SOUL belongs to _me_ , Frisk. And when I'm through with LOADING this SAVE FILE, you won't ever dare to forget that, let alone defy me." Chara snarled, and then opened the MENU with finality. Frisk shouted defiantly and fought against Chara's actions as hard as he could, but nothing happened. He might as well have been dreaming… or having a nightmare. Chara pressed the SAVE button.

/*FILE ERROR: SAVE FAILED*/

"…what?" Chara spluttered after a moment of stunned silence. She pressed the button again.

/*FILE ERROR: SAVE FAILED*/

"C'mon…" Chara grumbled, tapping the button several times in a row, each with the same result.

/*FILE ERROR: SAVE FAILED*/

/*FILE ERROR: SAVE FAILED*/

/*FILE ERROR: SAVE FAILED*/

/*FILE ERROR: SAVE FAILED*/

"Do as I say, you piece of crap!" Chara growled, now tapping the button dozens of times in rapid succession. Then, without warning, the MENU vanished, and in the same instant all of Frisk's INVENTORY items appeared in midair and promptly fell to the ground.

"NO," The Fallen Child screeched, vainly gesticulating in an attempt to reopen the MENU. But nothing happened. "That's not possible. The Anomaly gave us these powers. They couldn't just be _gone_! Not unless…" Like Frisk moments before, Chara slowly came to her conclusion moments before speaking it aloud. Frisk felt a cold wave of dread rush through her mind.

"…the Anomaly. It's… they're gone…" Chara whispered in disbelief.

* * *

MOMENTS BEFORE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FOURTH WALL

* * *

"What?!" The player cried in dismay, having just witnessed the ending of Undertale's Soulless Pacifist Route. Before buying the game, the player had managed to learn all that they could about Undertale without stumbling upon any spoilers. Thus they had started their game-play by experimenting with the countless possible timelines within the Neutral Route. After all, the player knew many others didn't have the heart to reset the game after the True Pacifist Ending. And the player knew that the Genocide Route mutated Undertale into a horror game with a ludicrously difficult final boss.

But eventually, the Neutral Route got boring. And the player didn't want to shirk either the Pacifist or Genocide Routes, lest they waste all their effort in avoiding spoilers. So, after recording a no-damage run against Omega Flowey and posting it online (mostly for bragging rights), the player decided to finish the game's other two endings and move on. Knowing that the Genocide Route would be harder to play through (in more ways than one), the player went that route first. And for all the demoralizing things the player persevered through, nothing felt worse than watching Chara get her way. The Genocide Ending filled the player with contempt for Chara, especially when they found out she represented the ideals of unfeeling, quasi-sociopathic achievement hunters who all but ignored a game's story-line.

Needless to say, the player relished playing through the Pacifist Route after that. They had always connected to Flowey's fleeting moments of humanity, and thus found Asriel's fate profoundly touching. With every monster spared along the way, the player felt greater satisfaction with the game, and a greater sense of triumph over Chara and the things she stood for. The player had a feeling Frisk felt similarly, as well.

In light of all that, the Soulless Pacifist Ending left the player absolutely crestfallen. They had even uninstalled and reinstalled Undertale for the explicit purpose of _avoiding_ something like that. So eventually, after staring at the "The End" screen for a minute or two, the player closed the game and uninstalled Undertale for good.

"Screw you, Chara. Now I know why the fandom hates you so much," they sighed in dismay. Looking for some kind of satisfaction, the player opened their browser and typed "Die in a Fire" into the search box.

* * *

UNDERTALE UNIVERSE, PRESENT

* * *

"Fine. I guess that figures, considering your lack of cooperation at the end of the last timeline," Chara grumbled dismissively, contemptuously writing off the departed Anomaly. "No matter, that won't stop me from killing your friends, Frisk. I'll just have to settle for condemning you to a lifetime of loneliness. Heh… That might even help your chances of seeing things my way, since I had to endure the same fate for a while." Chara went on, drawing Frisk's knife. The boy kept on struggling with his Determination, but still to no avail. Chara reacted as if she barely even noticed him resisting.

"Besides, it's not like I have no control over the Anomaly's powers," Chara snickered, then grimaced with concentration. After a moment, another MENU flickered into existence, one without the SAVE, LOAD or RESET buttons. "I'll just have to be more careful about dying." Chara then began collecting all of the items the last MENU had dropped, each disappearing into Frisk's stolen INVENTORY. Finally, she looked at the plate of butterscotch-cinnamon pie on the floor. Frisk consciously perceived her thoughts, which decided that Toriel must have left it there, then deigned to leave it on the floor. Finally, with the INVENTORY gathered, Chara idly regarded Frisk's Worn Dagger, still completely oblivious to his continued struggling.

"Humph. I would prefer the Real Knife, but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. Besides, I can always go home and get it back like last time," The girl ventured, then resumed her innocent smile. "Alright enough dallying. Say goodbye to your loved ones, Frisk," Chara taunted, then laughed horrifically. "Oh right, you can't!"

Without any further delay, Chara marched towards the bedroom door briskly. Along the way, she stepped on the pie Toriel had left for Frisk, crushing the treat and breaking the plate without even breaking her stride.

" **Let the nightmare begin…** "

* * *

Okay, that was chapter one. Let me clarify a few things. First off, the semi-sadistic part of my mind that compels me to laugh at tragic fictional events _loved_ writing this chapter. I have a feeling I won't need to put as much effort into writing Chara's character as I did into writing some of Fairy Tail's characters (don't ask me why writing some of FT's characters was hard, because I don't know).

Second, Frisk is now trapped in the same situation as Chara was during the True Pacifist Run: totally conscious of their host's actions, but unable to take any actions of their own. Once again, like a dream.

Third, if you think Chara's MENU powers don't make sense, watch Glitchtale. But for now, just think of it as the same power Chara used to destroy the game in the Genocide Ending (albeit downgraded to account for the Anomaly's absence). In a breath, she has the ability to interact with the fabric of space-time.

Fourth, the player was not a self-insert. Like I said in my Author's Notes (if you bothered to read them), I have not played Undertale. However, I'm pretty much positive that is what I would wind up doing if I played through it as blindly as this player did.

Finally, I'm not going to insist that you review. HOWEVER, please note that reviews are a potent source of encouragement and inspiration for FanFic authors. Plus they're an invaluable source of criticism. So, unless you dislike and/or don't care about this story, leaving a review is highly recommended.

So, if you'll excuse me, I must return to getting ahead on my workload. Later!


	3. Promises

Excellent! More of everything! This story is being received much better than my last story. Huh, I wonder why… Anyway, I must now embarrass my second honored reviewer, and reply to my first officially regular one.

Danmaku-OverLord: First of all, language. Second… this chapter should answer your question. Hee hee hee… Third and finally, thanks. I'm having an easier time keeping up with my workload now, but I'm still gonna be busy.

kaylafike500: Well, great! Knowing that people enjoy my story enough to review fills me with Determination. XD But seriously, it does… ;-)

On a side-note, there will be one more chapter between this one and the time-skip, mostly because this chapter will be long enough on its own, and the chapter I'll be adding must be added before the time skip for continuity's sake. What will be in this chapter, you ask? Two words: _plot development_.

Alright enough of that, I better finish this chapter before I start putting it off again. Now that I'm more or less caught up with my workload that is…

* * *

Chapter 2: Promises

That night, Frisk's six closest friends had gathered to catch up on the events which had transpired over the past few months. After showing the rest of their kind out of the Underground, Sans, Alphys, Asgore, Undyne, Papyrus and Toriel had joined Frisk in leading them all towards civilization. Over the course of several months, the monsters had made nominal progress in establishing peaceful coexistence with the humans. At first, the community of men had regarded the monsters with suspicion and restrained prejudice, especially when they learned of the history behind the monsters' imprisonment.

Yet their interactions remained civil, largely due to the monsters subverting the humans' expectations by acting with humble, yielding kindness. Frisk helped set the example for their behavior, and following his lead helped the monsters make consistent progress in promoting civility. They soon established their own village one mile to the east of the humans' main village, and over time the trust and cooperation between the two species grew, with the people of each village coming to the aid of the other more and more often. If communities could be personified as people, then the two villages had become the equivalent of tentative friends.

In the midst of this months-long development, the six monsters gathered that night had all kept busy in their own ways. Sans and Papyrus had kept busiest of all, finding time to open a comic book shop while helping Alphys and Undyne, respectively. To wit, Sans and Alphys had put their heads together in studying the connection between SOULs and Chakra, as well as the nature of both. They soon learned that many humans could use magic (in a form they called "jutsu"), and with Frisk's aid discovered its connection to the SOUL.

Meanwhile, Papyrus and Undyne had both aided Asgore and Toriel in the matters of politics and diplomacy that arose between humans and monsters. Undyne had become the head of their village's defenses, and Papyrus had risen through the ranks to being her second-in-command. In that time, he had acquired much of the discipline he lacked in the Underground, after Undyne had successfully drilled the importance of respect into his skull. The mockery that Papyrus' eccentricities elicited from humans also helped in shaping his resolve to change. Even though Papyrus remained no less of a lovable goofball than before, his demeanor had gradually acquired the honored character of a dedicated soldier. He had even modified his "battle body" outfit so it doubled as a combat-ready suit of armor. Between all that, and the sword he now wore on his back, Undyne had grown almost as proud of Papyrus as Sans had. The younger skeleton had matured significantly in the months since their exodus from the Underground. It was these two topics which dominated that night's conversation: inter-species politics and, presently, SOUL research.

"So, what you're saying is that Chakra comes from a person's SOUL?" Papyrus clarified bluntly, betraying the keen interest he so often showed in his brother's research. Sans nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much, bro. Think of it as a person's spiritual marrow." Sans agreed, grinning fondly at his brother's enthusiasm. The soldier's childlike quirks seemed even more endearing in conjunction with his newfound discipline. Asgore nodded thoughtfully.

"Interesting… and what role does Determination play in a person's being? Have you made discoveries in that regard?" He asked pointedly. Despite the dead-end research he had sponsored regarding Determination, the king still seemed to harbor a keen interest in the subject. Alphys, who for her part had been working on her shyness, cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Y-yes, Your Highness. As it turns out, Determination is the critical component which makes human SOULs distinct from monster SOULs. Despite our prior uncertainty in that regard, Sans and I have confirmed that fact beyond all doubt. As for the nature of Determination itself, it is actually a rather curious substance. Sans and I managed to isolate a sample of Determination for the purpose of studying it, rather than using it for any explicit purpose. The results have proved quite, err…" Alphys trailed off, not sure how to describe their discoveries adequately. Sans took over again.

"Determination behaves like pure, bone-afide weirdness. Heh heh… Anyway, it seems to have properties specifically tailored to defying logic. We threw a ball into a field of Determination, and it started to completely ignore gravity. And a watch surrounded by Determination can't seem to decide between going too fast or too slow." Sans summed up succinctly. Toriel raised her eyebrows.

"Well, I suppose that explains the horrible ramifications of injecting monsters with Determination. It seems that humans are the only beings suited to controlling it…" She remarked, remembering Alphys' recent confession regarding the Amalgamates. Alphys nodded vigorously.

"Oh yes! Human physiology complements the properties of Determination with absolute perfection. Though I suppose that's fitting, since Determination is something that comes exclusively from the human SOUL. And it more than explains the penchant humans have for accomplishing the impossible. We've made an exciting amount of progress recently; Frisk's aid has proven to be positively invaluable in studying the ways in which humans utilize Determination!" Alphys went on giddily, but was quickly cut off by Sans raising his hand. His look had turned serious.

"Yeah, about that… Guys, Frisk recently told Alphys and I some things… things which can only be described as… spine-tingling." Sans announced, delivering his pun in a complete deadpan. That alone caught everyone's attention right away.

"What do you mean, brother?" Papyrus asked in concern. The elder skeleton sighed.

"Alphys, why don't start from the beginning? You remember how this rig-marrow started better than me." Sans requested somberly, to which the reptilian scientist nodded. Her nerves cancelled out the morose subject they had come to, so she managed to begin their explanation quite calmly.

"Your Highness? Toriel? You both remember Chara, right?" Alphys began. The two nobles grew somber at the mention of their late adoptive daughter.

"All too well…" Asgore confirmed sadly. Alphys nodded.

"Well, we knew that upon her death, Prince Asriel absorbed her SOUL with the intent of acquiring six more from the humans of the surface world. And that the Prince met his demise shortly after that," Alphys went on; pausing to make sure both parents remained composed enough to listen. "However, what I did not understand at the time was what became of Chara's SOUL after Asriel died. I know that it could not have remained with Flowey. All of my research notes confirm that he did not retain a SOUL throughout the entirety of his early life. But just recently, Frisk shared some rather disturbing information that helped fill in the blanks of that ordeal." Once Alphys had finished (earning the shock and rapt attention of all four listening monsters), she gestured towards Sans.

"So, here are the bare bones of the matter. Frisk told us that, during the last timeline when he killed everyone, he absorbed some part of Chara's spirit, and that it grew stronger the more lives that he took. And when we analyzed his Chakra a little more thoroughly, we discovered that there was another, completely different kind of Chakra feeding off of his SOUL. Alphys and I are more or less positive that that Chakra is Chara's." Sans explained flatly. Everyone but Undyne gasped collectively.

"Wait… you mean that a part of Chara's SOUL is living inside of Frisk?" The spear-woman asked in amazement. Alphys shook her head grimly.

"Not exactly, Undyne. We confirmed that, while Chara's Chakra is surviving within Frisk's SOUL, her own SOUL is unmistakably missing. And chances are that Flowey retained the other half of Chara's Chakra until Frisk killed him at the end of the last timeline." The scientist added.

"And here's the bone of contention, so to speak," Sans chimed in again. "Apparently, Chara's consciousness was what compelled Frisk to commit genocide on all of us, even if he did consciously give in to her wishes. Even worse: Chara tricked the Anomaly into handing Frisk's SOUL over to her, right before he started this timeline." Sans delivered the final part of the news. Everyone's jaw dropped.

"D-don't misunderstand. Frisk is still very much his own person. However, with the kind of hold Chara has over him, it's only a matter of time before…" Alphys babbled nervously. However, she was then cut off by a hideous, high-pitched scraping, like claws on a chalkboard. Everyone either cringed or covered their ears, turning towards the source of the sound. Standing before them was Frisk, except that it wasn't. His boyish face had somehow shifted into a more feminine complexion, and his eyes were now reddish brown. Asgore and Toriel gasped.

"…before what, Alphys? Actually, don't answer that. I might as well act out the rest of that sentence." The Fallen child mused in a girlish falsetto of Frisk's voice.

"Ch-Chara…? Is that you, sweetie?" Toriel stammered, slowly getting to her feet and cautiously approaching her daughter with one hand outstretched. Chara's innocent smile split into a vicious, toothy grin.

"Hello, Mommy. How does it feel knowing that your daughter killed you?" Chara asked sweetly, like a child politely asking for a cookie. Toriel stopped, withdrawing her hand as she covered her mouth in a horrified gasp. Asgore snorted like a bull and stepped between the two.

"That's quite enough, young lady. I will not have you speaking to your mother like that." The king growled paternally, as if nothing had changed between Toriel and him since their children's deaths. Chara laughed another of her inhuman, maniacal laughs.

"Don't even waste your breath, _Dad_. Or have you already forgotten how easily I killed you last time?" The king's daughter spat mockingly, to which Asgore winced like he had witnessed a horrific death. Chara's eyes glowed with anticipation as she approached her parents.

"In fact, why don't I start by killing you two? With the _power_ I've gained from the Anomaly, it's not like I can't. Besides, I don't need anyone now: friends or family, monsters or humans. Tee hee… I can only imagine how fun it's going to be, killing all of the humans you've made peace with." Chara giggled, raising her dagger in menace. Neither parent could think clearly enough to react, torn between their fear of dying, their caring for their daughter and the horror of seeing her deliver that threat. However, as Chara lunged at them, a black-and-blue blur intercepted her strike, resolving into the image of Undyne, blocking the dagger with her spear.

"I don't think so, you brat. I don't care who or what you are, but I won't let you lay a finger on a single human or monster among our villages. I, Undyne, will strike you down!" Undyne bravely declared, holding Chara's strike back steadfastly. Chara grimaced, bearing down harder.

"Ugh, you again. Yeah, I remember you and your damn spear, Undyne. I know better than to waste my time with you." Chara snarled, and her knife began glowing fuchsia. Undyne's eyes widened, knowing that Chara had her in a position where she couldn't leap back. But before the girl could initiate her attack, her chest flashed blue, and she flew backwards as if hooked to a train. With another flash of his eye, Sans pinned Chara to the ceiling.

"Heh. Nice try, kid. You may be a lot stronger now, but I know all your tricks. It wasn't hard to learn them, considering how many times I killed you in the last timeline." Sans chuckled, his one, glowing yellow eye narrowed fiercely. Chara grinned wickedly.

"Yeah? Well, there's one big difference here, Sans. I can't SAVE or LOAD anymore. The Anomaly is gone. So if you kill me here, Frisk dies too… for good." She sneered. Sans' eyes widened in shock.

"Seriously? How do I know you aren't just pulling our legs to get the drop on us?" Sans retorted, clearly miffed by the possibility. Chara grinned even more viciously, but the elder skeleton caught the flicker of fear that crossed her face.

" **Are you really willing to take that risk?** " She snarled in the same, inhuman voice that had saturated her laughter. Then, after a moment of gritting her teeth and growling, Chara's chest flashed fuchsia, and she dropped back to the floor, slashing down at Sans right away. Sans promptly flash-stepped out of the way, just like he had dozens of times before in their last fight.

'Damn. She didn't have the ability to do that last time. Is this kid's Chakra really that powerful?' Sans thought as he trapped Chara inside of a spherical formation of bone-spears. Papyrus cleared his throat loudly.

"Human! I have no memory of the horrible crimes you compelled Frisk to commit, but I do not believe you are incapable of change. Even if you don't, I believe there is still good in you… that you can do the right thing." Papyrus cut in, his tone slowly shifting from insistent and boisterous to sincere and imploring. In response, Chara snarled viciously and teleported behind him after another few moments of concentration.

"BELIEVE IN _THIS_ , YOU NAÏVE DRIP!" The girl screeched, bearing down on Papyrus with a falling, downward slash. But she was intercepted by a blast of lightning that threw her several feet across the room. Alphys lowered her hand slightly, an expression midway between bravery and desperation etched into her face.

"Everyone, get outside! Chara has a better of chance of killing us while we're bottled up in here!" The scientist demanded, keeping one hand pointed towards Chara while reaching into her lab coat with the other.

"No Alphys! I can't let you risk your life to…!" Undyne started to protest, but Alphys cut her off.

"GO! I promise I'll be right behind you." Alphys snapped, but her voice cracked audibly. The lizard-woman may have been acting courageously at the moment, but her fear hadn't diminished at all. San immediately seized the king and former queen, teleporting them both out of the house.

"You heard the lady! Come on, Captain!" Papyrus shouted, grabbing Undyne's arm and pulling her towards the door. She briefly regarded Alphys and the now-standing Chara, admiring the courage of the former. Then she yielded to Papyrus and charged out the door.

* * *

Mettaton's display blinked to life, flashing urgently in a shifting pattern of red, orange and yellow. In lieu of sleeping, the robotic celebrity plugged himself in at Alphys' lab and powered down every night, allowing him to recharge as thoroughly and efficiently as possible. Doing so helped him keep up with the demanding life he now led. Having made a name for himself as a skilled actor, Mettaton spent most of his days leading a dramatic life of show-business and fame. Not much different from his life in the Underground, except his popularity among human audiences kept Mettaton much busier, while also making his job twice as fun. Between the promotion of his public image and the frequent opportunities to represent his culture, Mettaton's career had gone a long way towards cultivating peace between humans and monsters.

But now, Mettaton was being awoken by something far more pressing. Alphys had recently upgraded and perfected the robot's capabilities, among which included a more practical humanoid form, a defense system that used less power and better weapons, a one-way teleportation system, and a built-in telephone that included a distress line linked directly to a remote that Alphys kept with her. As opposed to a normal phone call, this alarm meant that Alphys was in the middle of an urgent situation; most likely an emergency. That distress call had just awoken Mettaton. Not wasting a second, the robot pushed himself upright, transformed into his humanoid combat form, and responded to the call by teleporting directly to the signal's source. Mettaton materialized on the scene immediately, appearing right as Chara had begun stalking towards Alphys, whom he now stood beside.

"Alphys, what's going on? Why did you activate your distress beacon?" The robot inquired, not yet understanding the situation.

"Mettaton, it is as we feared. Chara's spirit has regained control of Frisk, and now she's trying to kill everyone. She also claims that the Anomaly is gone, meaning she no longer has Frisk's power to SAVE, LOAD or RESET." Alphys quickly explained, watching Chara warily as she stalked around them, blocking their exit and looking for an opening. Mettaton grimaced.

"Oh dear. And I assume we want to avoid killing Frisk at all costs?" The robot asked leadingly, to which his creator nodded in confirmation.

"Exactly. That's why I summoned you here. We need all the help we can get, and once we get outside, we need to follow our plan." She went on. Mettaton took a moment to process that, and then his eyes twinkled.

"I have an idea for that first issue. Just don't run until I say so." He stated smugly, with a strange degree of amusement. Alphys' furrowed her brow in concern.

"Meta? What are you planning?" She ventured nervously. Her creation answered by charging his opponent.

"A FULL FRONTAL DISTRACTION!" The robot bellowed dramatically, readying his arm cannon and leveling it at Chara. The Fallen Child smirked confidently, preparing to counter-attack Mettaton's reckless assault. However, just before either combatant was in range, a large stream of confetti blasted out of the celebrity's cannon, complete with a colorful strobe-light and a whimsical siren. This sudden change in tactics left Chara stunned and disoriented for the few seconds that Mettaton needed. With the opening at hand, Mettaton pressed one of the many buttons on his arm cannon, which then discharged his true distraction: a taser. As soon as Chara fell over from the discombobulating shock, Mettaton turned tail and sprinted towards the door.

"Okay, _now_ run!" He shouted while dragging Alphys with him to make sure she got out quickly.

* * *

The friends hardly had a full minute to regroup before they heard a piercing shriek of rage. A few moments later, the front door exploded.

" _ **I'm going to slaughter you all like pigs!**_ " Chara roared in fury, zipping towards them like a fast-forwarded video image. Mettaton loosed a large explosion of smokescreen from his gun, and the entire party of monsters scattered.

"We need to come up with a plan," Undyne yelled. "Otherwise, Chara's going to kill us sooner or later. She did it before, and that was before she could turn her Determination into magic!" Mettaton reached the edge of his obscuring cloud, switching his vision to detect heat signatures.

"Alphys and I have a 99% finished plan already. We just need a way of subduing this omnicidal maniac without deadly force." The robot proclaimed, stating the facts with just a hint of sarcasm. But suddenly, Alphys realized what they needed to do.

"Mettaton, you're a genius!" she praised him.

"Wait, I thought you were the genius here. What did _I_ say?" The celebrity asked quizzically. His creator brushed the question off, her mind running at a mile a minute.

"Sans! Were you able to immobilize Frisk in the Genocide timeline?" She called.

"I don't actually remember any exact details from the other timelines, Doc. But I do know something that'll get the job done." The elder skeleton replied from somewhere nearby. On the next beat, Chara leapt out of the smoke towards Mettaton, screaming in rage. But then, she bounced back, as if rebounding off of an invisible mattress.

"Got 'er." Sans confirmed triumphantly, his eye once again glowing yellow.

"Not again, damn it!" Chara shouted, trying to teleport out of the SOUL-trapping energy field. This time, however, her powers stuttered. For a moment, she seemed genuinely conflicted, and her eyes began to lose their reddish tint.

"Perfect! Now's our chance! Everyone, we need to try and get through to Frisk! He's still in there, and if we work together we can break Chara's hold on him, just like he broke Asriel's hold over us." Alphys blathered, barely managing to get everything out without stuttering. Once everyone figured out the plan, they didn't waste a second.

"Human! You must be strong! You fought all of us in the last timeline, which means you defeated not only Asgore and Undyne, but me, the Great Papyrus, as well! I have faith you can win this! After all, remember all the fun we had with my puzzles? Not to mention that time we spent hanging out together, and the months we've had here on the surface. C'mon, buck up, man! We believe in you!" Papyrus urged in a tone that was both fond and berating.

"Papyrus is right, my child. I remember how strong you remained while befriending all of our people within the Underground. You stayed kind and merciful, yet persistent and brave all the while. You've even managed that among the humans, whether they accepted you or scorned you. Because of that, I know you are stronger than this specter of my daughter. Please, do not lose hope!" Toriel backed Papyrus up.

* * *

MOMENTS BEFORE, DEEP WITHIN FRISK'S PSYCHE

* * *

Frisk had finally made some progress in winning back control. Granted, he had to give up his perception of Chara's actions, and he still hadn't regained command of his body. However, the boy had finally applied his Determination persistently enough for his SOUL to begin actively opposing Chara's influence over him. He perceived the entire struggle in a format identical to his battles against the Underground monsters. Fortunately, his Determination was keeping him in the fight, like it had when he fought Asriel. Frisk could tell it wouldn't last forever, but it would take a lot to stamp out his will.

 _Un_ fortunately, Chara proved to be the second hardest opponent he had ever fought, with Sans holding his spot at number one. Not only did Frisk's attacks only hurt Chara about as much as they hurt Flowey's unrestrained Six-SOUL Form, but her own attacks remained difficult to avoid and brutal in the damage they dealt. Still, Frisk's hopes and dreams kept him in the fight, just like they had against Asriel.

Nevertheless, the boy soon started to realize it wouldn't be enough. Despite his gradual progress in subduing Chara's will, Frisk had no idea how long he could hold out. The last thing he wanted to do was risk exhausting his Determination and wind up losing the fight for good. Then, without warning, a new option appeared in his "ACT" heading: "Friends". When he pressed it, he heard a pleasantly familiar voice.

"…means you defeated not only Asgore and Undyne, but me, the Great Papyrus, as well! I have faith you can win this! After all, remember all the fun we had with my puzzles? Not to mention that time we spent hanging out together, and the months we've had here on the surface. C'mon, buck up, man! We believe in you!" It was Papyrus, cheering him on somehow. After the goofy skeleton had finished his inspirational tirade, a message accompanied the feeling that filled his SOUL.

/*THE VOICE OF YOUR FRIEND STRENGTHENS YOUR WILL. CHARA'S ATK AND DEF WERE REDUCED!*/

His hope bolstered, Frisk continued to fight against Chara as hard as he could. Thanks to Papyrus' encouragement, the boy could tell he had gained a greater advantage against his genocidal foe, both from her weakened posture and the strength her felt in his SOUL. Chara's eyes flickered in recognition of Frisk's gain, but she otherwise remained gleefully sadistic.

"Try this on for size, _hero_!" The girl sneered, and launched a storm of energy slashes at him. One grazed his side and dealt nominal damage, but otherwise he remained undeterred. Hoping to further his advantage, Frisk pressed the ACT button again, and was rewarded with the "Friends" option being available again. Frisk pressed it hastily.

"Papyrus is right, my child. I remember how strong you remained…"

* * *

THE PHYSICAL WORLD, PRESENT

* * *

"It's working!" Sans called out, noticing the conflict in Frisk's stolen eyes grow. They were now flickering between brown and reddish-brown, rather than the later remaining. Chara snarled.

"STOP THAT!" She roared, finally scything down Sans' force-field with a Determination-fueled slash. The girl immediately lunged at her captor.

"I'm so damned tired of you, Sans! I hope _you're_ the one who winds up burning in Hell!" She screeched, vainly slashing at the elder skeleton as she spoke. Predictably, Sans flash-stepped away from her attacks with little effort. Not even a full second later, Undyne landed a carefully-aimed hit on Chara's hand that simultaneously disarmed her and left an open gash across her palm. The girl wailed in pain.

"It's payback time, brat…" The captain growled, bowling Chara over before she had a chance to react. Despite her struggling, Undyne managed to pin her arms down using her legs. Once she had accomplished that, the piranha-like warrior began punching Chara repeatedly.

"This is for my friends! This is for Frisk! This is for our world! And this is for thinking you can get away with it all over again!" Undyne yelled in Chara's face, listing off the girl's crimes as she pummeled her. Then, once she felt Chara had stopped struggling, she went on in a gentler voice.

"Frisk, I know you can hear me in there. Don't give up hope, kid. You may have listened to this sadistic freak once before, but your choices in this time-line tell me everything I need to know. Being nice even when I attacked you… hanging out with Papyrus, Alphys and me… reaching out to Asriel no matter how evil he seemed… _that's_ who you really are. Don't let Chara convince you otherwise." Undyne gently took a turn at reaching out to Frisk, and punctuated her last sentence with a huge grin. For a few moments, the boy's eyes remained brown, and a flash of recognition flitted across his visage. But just as quickly, the red tint returned completely.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Chara howled, her voice no longer resembling a modulation of Frisk's. An aura of fuchsia energy exploded out from her body, throwing Undyne fifty feet away. Toriel gasped.

"That's Chara's voice!" She called her, grief and alarm lacing her inflection. The girl stood, her eyes once again flickering.

"That's right, Mommy. Take it as a sign that I've started to take permanent control over this stupid boy." Chara taunted with a sickly sweet version of her innocent smile. She began advancing towards her adoptive mother with murderous intent. But once again, Asgore stepped in front of his ex-wife.

"Frisk, I've only come to know you over the past few months. And I know that my past actions and inactions indirectly brought you suffering. But I have seen your good intentions with great clarity, and I too recognize their authenticity. We believe in you, my child. Please, for our sake as well as your own… Stay determined." He admonished, all but ignoring Chara. Her expression flickered back and forth with Frisk's once again, but then her face contorted in rage.

"SHUT UP!" she snarled, gulping down a Cinnamon Bunny, mending the gash on her palm and thrusting her hand towards her Worn Dagger. Within moments, it appeared in her grasp, and Chara promptly charged her adoptive father. Narrowing his eyes at her, Asgore drew his trident and met the girl's strike. Chara now fought with a ferocious degree of speed and strength, utilizing more Chakra in her attacks. But Asgore managed to keep up and even drive the Fallen Child away from Toriel. Between the might possessed by each combatant, their duel was almost evenly matched.

* * *

"…for our sake as well as your own… Stay determined." Asgore's voice had just finished reaching Frisk, and this time the message was different.

/*YOU BEGIN TO REGAIN CONTROL. CHARA'S DEFENSE DROPPED TO 0!*/

Despite himself, Frisk couldn't help but grin. 'Time to give this monster what's coming to her…' Rather than listening for his friends anymore, Frisk started to attack Chara directly. Instead of another double-digit figure, Frisk's attack lopped off 7,193 of Chara's HP. Relative to her total HP, Frisk had done about as much damage to her as when he began turning the tide against Flowey's Six-SOUL Form. For once, Chara actually responded with obvious pain.

"GAH! Why you little…" She hissed, and then bore down on him even harder than before. Her attack patterns were almost as hard to dodge as Sans'… but they remained predictable enough for Frisk to stay alive. Once again, he returned to healing and listening for his friends. The next time he had the opportunity to choose ACT, Frisk heard Alphys' voice.

* * *

"…we believe in you." Alphys finished saying her piece. Nearly all of Chara's presence had bubbled up to the surface, but it seemed like she had more and more trouble maintaining consistent control of Frisk's body.

" **You… you bastards… I swear I'm going to…** " Chara snarled in her inhuman voice, but her movements had now grown far weaker. She looked enraged, yet also weak and mildly helpless… like a starving wolf. She kept on fighting in desperation, but now her attacks came far more clumsily, making them much easier to avoid. The girl loped quickly towards Sans, but he actually managed to catch her knife arm at the wrist when she struck.

"Listen, Frisk. I know I doubted you in the last time-line, but I agree with Undyne. Somewhere in there, I can feel it: that glimmer of a good person inside you… the one who helped us through this timeline… who wanted to do the right thing, and enjoyed it… someone who, against all odds, stood by us as a friend. C'mon buddy, I know you remember me. Please, if you're listening right now… let's forget all this, okay? Just lay down your weapon and we can put all this behind us." Sans implored, looking Frisk straight in the eyes as he spoke.

* * *

"Just lay down your weapon, and we can put all this behind us." Sans' voice concluded. All the color drained from Chara's face, and Frisk felt his Determination swell powerfully.

/*YOUR DETERMINATION HAS OVERCOME CHARA'S! HER ATTACK DROPPED TO 0!*/

All at once, the force-field caging Frisk's SOUL dissolved, and Chara's knife crumbled into sand. She staggered weakly.

"No… that's not possib-…" she insisted weakly, but was cut off as Frisk punched her in the face with his Tough Glove. The boy roughly shoved her to the ground, straddling his legs so her arms were trapped.

"This is for what you did to my friends…" Frisk growled. He then proceeded to punch Chara in the face again and again and again, steadily chipping away at her HP. The girl could do nothing but hold up her arms feebly, unable to truly defend herself. But her expression was not one in want of mercy, like he had seen upon defeating Flowey. Instead, she wore a look of enraged contempt, as if she were actually trying to kill Frisk with a look of hatred.

"I can't stand people like you. Never thinking of anyone but yourself… stepping all over the ones who get in your way… and taking pleasure in their pain!" Frisk screamed, winding up an especially hard punch that broke Chara's nose. The girl sneered in fury, and actually caught Frisk's next punch. Then Chara threw her body weight into him, bowling the boy over so she now loomed over him. She then began delivering a similar, albeit slower beat-down.

"You don't deserve the happiness you gained!" Chara spat, putting most of her weight into each punch she threw. Eventually, however, Frisk regained his alertness quickly enough to counter… by grabbing Chara's face.

"Shut up…" Frisk growled, slowly getting to his feet and roughly throwing Chara to the ground. Blood was oozing from her nose and her now-empty eye sockets.

"It's not like any of us deserve the happiness we get. After all, no human is perfectly good, or perfectly evil. We'd run ourselves ragged trying to go either way, so we have no right to act entitled to anything. I should know: I relived the same events for what probably totaled up to years… Happiness is a give-and-take thing, Chara. Unless you're doing something for the happiness of others, you'll eventually wind up with no happiness for yourself." Frisk argued in a steadily softening voice. Chara spat at him, her saliva mixed with blood.

"If you really believe that, then you're as much of an idiot as Flowey made you out to be." Chara scowled, trying desperately to get to her feet. But Frisk kicked one arm out from underneath her, so she fell back to the ground with a pained growl.

"You see? That's why I'm not showing you any mercy. You don't even _want_ to be spared!" Frisk yelled, equipping his Worn Dagger and grabbing Chara by her collar. She kept on staring back at him, that same twisted smile holding together as if the skin had been sown into place. Frisk let loose his brimming Determination with a brief yet vehement battle cry, plunging his knife hilt-deep into Chara's chest. Her HP dropped to zero.

The girl grunted in pain, but otherwise didn't react. Then she broke into a grin, and finally dissolved into a fit of laughter that was interspersed with bloody coughing.

"You really _are_ an idiot! Don't you get it Frisk? When the Anomaly gave your SOUL to me, my spirit was bonded with it. You may have stamped out my will for now, but it won't take long for me to come back and reclaim you, Frisk. But, since I had fun trying to kill you here, I'll let you say your goodbyes until I'm ready. See you soon!" Chara grinned. The next sound that came out of her mouth was something Frisk couldn't quite describe. It sounded just as much like a horrible coughing fit as it did a peal of maniacal laughter. Yet at the same time, it didn't sound exactly like either of those things. Either way, Chara spewed several clots of blood from her throat with that sound, until she rapidly rotted away into dust. Frisk stood, quickly realizing what he had to do.

* * *

All at once, the red faded from Frisk's eyes, and his look of hatred went with it.

"Is that you, kid?" Sans asked, backing up a pace and letting go of his wrist. Frisk nodded slowly.

"Yeah… it's me." He slowly replied. Sans grinned.

"Frisk is back, guys!" He yelled, to which everyone cheered and crowded around him in excited relief.

"Wait," Frisk shouted, immediately catching their attention with his alarmed tone of voice. "I… I couldn't kill Chara. In fact, she said it wouldn't be long before she won control back again…" Upon hearing that, everyone's mood turned somber and a little fearful.

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Undyne snapped in frustration. Frisk smiled sadly.

"I'm pretty sure I know how to stop Chara." He managed, his eyes flickering with red for an instant. He brought his SOUL out into the open, hovering gently above his hand, and extended it to Sans.

"S-Sans… take my SOUL." Frisk whispered. The skeleton's eyes widen.

"Wh-what? What are you planning, kid?" Sans stammered, completely stunned and thoroughly confused by Frisk's words. The boy winced, but his eyes flickered with red for a shorter time than the last.

"Chara said that her spirit was bound to my SOUL. But… I have a feeling that she's actually bound to my life. After all, it's not like we've been turning into the same person or anything…" Frisk explained. "So, as her will faded, I realized that the only way to stop her… was to separate my SOUL from my life." Everyone gasped, one after the other.

"But Frisk… wouldn't that kill you?" Asgore asked. Frisk opened his mouth, but Alphys spoke up instead.

"Actually, no. If Chara's Determination was strong enough for her to control Frisk, it would be strong enough to sustain his life as well. However, unless we injected his body with even more Determination, like I did to Flowey, his body would wind up in a permanently comatose state. Moreover, as long as we took the measures necessary, we could keep Frisk's body alive almost indefinitely." The scientist quickly explained, having already figured out what they had to do. Papyrus turned towards Alphys in surprise.

"I know you're smart enough to figure that out, Dr. Alphys. But… why do you know something like that right off the bat, so to speak?" He inquired, thoroughly surprised by her quick and detailed answer. Alphys blushed a bit.

"Well… I…" she attempted to explain, but Mettaton cut her off when he noticed her bashfulness.

"She's been planning for this ever since we discovered Chara's Chakra within Frisk's body." The robot answered quickly. Everyone nodded in understanding. Frisk winced again, an aura of fuchsia rippling over his form.

"Take it, Sans. I won't be able to hold her back much longer." Frisk pleaded, gritting his teeth in effort. Sans reached his hand for Frisk's SOUL, but paused for just a few moments.

"Listen, kid. You saved the world just a few months ago, and you've proven that you really do care about us. That's why we'll find a way to bring you back, and keep Chara from stealing your life again. I promise." Sans swore. Frisk smiled gratefully.

"Thanks Sans. Once that day comes, let's all have a meal at Grillby's, okay?" Frisk replied, still smiling. Sans gave one of his trademark, winking smirks.

"Sure thing, buddy." Sans agreed, and promptly snatched Frisk's SOUL. In the next instant, Frisk's eyes turned red, and the fuchsia aura exploded from his body.

"NOOOOO!" Chara wailed, desperately clawing for the boy's SOUL, but Sans had already flash-stepped away. Cut off from her source of consciousness, Chara's eyes darkened, and she fell to the ground. Alphys ran forward quickly.

"Mettaton, remember our plan! We have to get Frisk's body to the lab and stabilize it as soon as possible!"

* * *

"So, is he gonna be alright, partner?" Sans asked Alphys. The two had spent the past 45 minutes wiring Frisk's body to the life-support chamber she had set up in their lab. Not only did the device sustain Frisk's body even more efficiently than the life support available at most hospitals, it bathed his body in a field of Determination, keeping his Chakra levels stable. While this also kept Chara alive (albeit without access to her motor nervous system), it would protect Frisk from any unfortunate side-effects that would come with letting his body's Chakra system deteriorate. As a bonus, Chara's limited control over Frisk's mind would protect his brain from cognitive deterioration.

Alphys blushed lightly at the familiar nickname Sans had started using while they worked together.

"Y-yes, Sans. Everything has been calibrated perfectly. So long as we make the necessary adjustments every few weeks, we should be able to focus on finding a way to safely put Frisk's SOUL back. Speaking of which, how is Frisk's SOUL faring?" Alphys replied. Sans smiled.

"The kid's doing fine. I had Asgore put him in the seventh SOUL jar, but the king insisted that I hang onto it. Something about 'respecting Frisk's final request' or whatever. He explained it like we might never see him again." He responded, indicating the glowing red, jar-shaped bulge in his jacket pocket. Alphys looked a bit perturbed by Sans' last comment.

"That's absurd. He should know how capable we are… and how resolute we'll be in saving Frisk." Alphys exclaimed, sounding the slightest bit offended for the first time in Sans' memory. Sans chuckled.

"Ain't that the truth. C'mon, let's get to work on proving him wrong."

* * *

I know what you're thinking: HOW THE HELL IS CHARA STILL ALIVE?! Well, the reason for that is the same reason why Undertale (the game) never forgets your first completed Genocide Run, yet has no permanent rewards for completing a True Pacifist Run first. As long as your reasoning doesn't reach beyond the game's universe (with the Anomaly being an obvious exception), then you've answered your own question.

In other news, lots of you are probably wondering what happened to Chara's SOUL. Well, the next chapter will not only answer that question, but it will also cover another of the Summary's big questions: "What became of Dr. Gaster…?" Now do you get why I pushed off the time-skip?

Also, I loved writing this chapter as well. Finally, I can write something that stimulates my muse! It feels great! XDDDD

Alright, I'll hopefully see you peeps sooner than later. Reviews are always welcome!


	4. Purpose

Wow. I have two regular reviewers already. That is the coolest. :D

Danmaku-OverLord: Thanks again. And your questions will be answered in time. Flowey's whereabouts will be revealed in this chapter. Muffet will be seen again after the time-skip. And the question of Chara's redemption has a spoiler heavy answer, so you'll have to patient to find out. But take heart; that plot point will have **lots** of development, so it should be EXTRA satisfying when it comes to fruition.

Kaylafike500: SWEET! :DDDDD

Alrighty then, let's get to it.

* * *

Chapter 3: Purpose

Flowey was not feeling the love. Ever since he stopped being Asriel (again), he felt even more frustrated and hateful over his lack of feeling. Returning to the surface only made things worse. Now that the barrier was destroyed, Flowey's Determination had all but vanished into the sea of human Determination that filled the surface world. And while the sheer magnitude of Flowey's Determination allowed him to continue defying death, he no longer had the abilities to SAVE, LOAD or RESET. Essentially, the flower carried a SAVE POINT with him wherever he went, always fixed at the present.

Still, the lack of variety in Flowey's life was suffocating to him. Presently, he had found a large bed of colorful wildflowers to stop and rest; being surrounded by other flowers always helped Flowey relax and forget his troubles.

Still, it did nothing to assuage his emptiness; the profound lack of purpose that now confronted him. Before, Flowey could drown it out with the joys of senseless murder. Now, however, he couldn't protect himself by SAVING. And the humans of the surface proved just as troublesome to kill as Frisk. The adults were too fast and durable, and nearly all of the children stuck close to them. Flowey had tried tricking them as well, but they were either too smart to be tricked, or too dumb to understand Flowey's trickery.

For at least the twelfth time in the past week, the plant wished he had Chara by his side. Even in the Genocide timeline, her presence had been a powerful source of reassurance for Flowey, prior to her betrayal of course. At some times, often times like these, he couldn't help but remember the times they shared before their deaths.

* * *

Asriel and Chara were charging through the wintery fields of Snowdin, the former toting half a dozen snowballs. Asriel was also the one giving chase at the moment, forcing Chara to keep running and dodging her friend's projectiles until she found cover.

"I'm gonna get you this time, Chara!" Asriel called playfully, pleased to actually be winning for a change despite how much fun he still had while losing. The children had a hobby of sneaking out of the castle when their parents let them spend the day playing. Though the young prince technically wasn't supposed to wander very far from the castle, Toriel let him roam freely through the Underground as long as he and Chara steered clear of any dangerous regions, like Hotland or the Ruins.

Having snowball fights in Snowdin was just one of many ways the adoptive siblings enjoyed passing the time. The rules they followed were simple. Two hits on the arm forced the victim to tuck that arm inside of their jacket, rendering it useless. A hit to either leg crippled their movement (above the knee meant dragging their foot along the ground, below the knee inflicted forced hopping). A player was out of the game once they sustained one direct hit to the head, two hits to the chest, or had both of their arms knocked out. As a humorous bonus, a hit to both legs forced the victim to the ground until the game ended.

Even though Chara beat Asriel most of the time through her strong will and bold tactics, the prince had finally managed to turn the tide in his favor. This advantage came when Asriel discovered he was really good at dodging, just as long as he didn't try to counter in between evasions. It took patience and focus, but Asriel enjoyed applying himself in fun new ways almost as much as Chara did. That similarity was why the two friends always kept busy and had fun in each other's company. Chara had "lost" one arm, and Asriel was hopping around with "only" one leg, but they still laughed and smiled like the children they were.

"We'll see about that, Asriel!" Chara giggled, and then initiated her plan. She ducked into a quick somersault, forming a small snowball by closing her fist around a handful of snow. While Asriel closed the remaining distance between them, Chara scrambled to her knees and hastily tossed her weapon at his already "injured" chest. At the last second, however, Asriel dove beneath the snowball's path, landed a few feet away from Chara, and used one arm to prop himself up while the other arm nailed Chara straight in the face with one of his dropped snowballs. The girl clutched her face and moaned dramatically.

"Uhhhn… He got me…" She groaned in imaginary pain. Asriel grinned widely and got to his knees.

"I did it! My kingdom is safe!" The young prince cheered. Chara sat up and laughed.

"C'mon Asriel. You know I wouldn't attack the Underground; it's my home, too." Chara pouted, even though she couldn't stop grinning from her lingering exhilaration. Her friend's grin shrunk into an equally warm smile.

"Well, duh! I know that! But I wouldn't fight anyone for real unless they wanted to hurt my home, friends, or family." Asriel explained. Chara's eyes gleamed.

"Really? Even if they did something super mean to you?" The girl prodded in awe. Asriel swiped his paw over his chest twice, describing an X.

"I cross my heart." The prince proclaimed. Chara giggled again and got to her feet.

"You act silly when you're trying to be serious. C'mon, let's go to Grillby's. I bet Sans is there for his break by now." Chara suggested, offering her hand. Asriel promptly took it and got to his feet, grinning once more. He liked Sans.

* * *

Flowey groaned, putting the memories to rest. Even though his mind found satisfaction in their familiarity, his heart still felt empty and unfulfilled. He glowered at his fellow flowers miserably.

"Some days, I wish I was more like you guys. You don't have to worry about annoying things like self-awareness or the meaning of life. You just soak up the sun and exist without needing to worry about how or why." Flowey groused, looking at the roses, daisies and violets around him with longing. If only life could be that simple…

"Hello Asriel." A voice from seemingly nowhere made Flowey jump (inasmuch that he could). He looked around quickly, trying to pinpoint the speaker… which made him jump again, because one of the nearby trees' shadows was _moving_. Flowey soon overcame his shock, as the shadow lifted out of the ground, molding itself into a vaguely humanoid form. Finally, the blackness on the surface melted away, revealing the stranger's identity.

"Wait a second… _Dr. Gaster_?!" Flowey gaped, his jaw dropping cartoonishly. He had never seen the scientist in person, but he had learned enough from talking to everyone in the Underground. Dr. Gaster was the adoptive father of Sans and Papyrus, and one of the leading researchers in Ontological Physics: the same field that Sans and Alphys specialized in. At one point, he started trying to find the connection between SOULs and space-time, and the resulting experiment of several weeks later led to his disappearance. Nobody else knew much of anything else about him, aside from the memories Sans and Papyrus had to share. Yet here was, alive and well.

"That's right, Asriel. I'm glad I finally found you." Gaster smiled, his ovular white face reminding Flowey of Sans despite their lack of shared blood. If he had hands, Flowey would've scratched his head in confusion.

"Okay, timeout for a second. Why are you here? Actually, that can wait. _How_ are you here?" Flowey stammered, though he also felt like asking, "What do you want with me". Gaster chuckled.

"I know you must be confused right now, Asriel, and rightfully so. I came here for your allegiance, so I suppose it's only fair for me to explain myself. Just bear with me, because I have a lot to explain." Gaster explained, raising his hollow-palmed hands in supplication. Flowey sighed.

"Go ahead. I've got nothing better to do, and it's not like my stem ever gets tired." Flowey grumbled impatiently at Gaster's pleasantry. The scientist nodded.

"Of course. Let me just get to the point, then." Gaster replied, sitting down so he was closer to Flowey's level.

"You see Asriel, the day of that horrible accident, I didn't die like everyone assumed. Instead, I found myself in a strange void beyond time or space. I was outside the concepts of here and there, now and then… It was strange, because only my mind could perceive the elapsing of time. For the longest of times, for lack of a better term, I felt a lot like you. Alone, forgotten, purposeless, and infinitely bored… Eventually, however, my mind began to acclimate to the void in which I found myself. As that came to pass, I began having visions: visions of both the past, and the present. I could see through the veil between dimensions, viewing any time and any place I chose, as long as those events did not extend into the future. Upon discovering this, I devoted my time to perfecting this ability, and I soon achieved the closest thing I could to mastery. I could see virtually any past or passing moment in any timeline, at any place. I learned even more than you've learned about the world of the Underground, and beyond. And the more I learned, the more I wanted to come back and put my knowledge to good use." Gaster recounted, explaining everything as concisely as he could. Flowey listened with interest and mild skepticism. Yet he knew how to test the validity of his story.

"Okay, Gaster. Here's a test to make sure you're not lying. What were Chara's last words to me before she died?" Flowey asked, knowing that most people mixed up her last words with her final request.

"Four simple words: 'I love you, Asriel.' Here's the real question: did she mean that as a sibling, a friend, or… something else?" Gaster smirked. Flowey's jaw dropped again. If he had blood in his cheeks, he would have started blushing.

"I… uh… okay. I believe you now." Flowey concluded, knowing Gaster couldn't possibly know that unless he was telling the truth. Chara had spoken those words in _sotto voce_ , while they were alone. Gaster's smirk widened into a smug grin, showing a full set of pointed, skeletal teeth. Almost like the mouth of a shark, albeit scaled down to fit his mouth.

"Very good. Now, I shall finish. As I said, I wanted to come back and put my newfound vision to good use. But I could not return without something to anchor me to the physical plane. I needed something that could travel between this world and the world of void I had discovered. Then it hit me: SOULs. My hunch was that passing human SOULs would journey through the void between dimensions on their way to their… destination. But I also knew that I needed a SOUL with as much Determination as possible, to secure my return with maximum certainty. There was only one SOUL that fit the bill, so to speak." Gaster then reached into his chest, and removed a glowing fuchsia SOUL. Flowey gasped.

"I-is that…?" He stammered in disbelief, and then trailed off. Gaster nodded.

"Yes. This is Chara's SOUL. Her fierce Determination proved to be more than enough for me to pierce the veil and return to this life. And that is how I returned." The scientist concluded, returning the salvaged SOUL to his chest. Flowey sighed.

"Okay. Question number two: _why_ are you here, as in here with me? Why do you want to form an 'allegiance' with me?" Flowey asked, to which Gaster laughed in amusement.

"Two reasons, Asriel. First, is that Chara's SOUL compelled me to find you. She imparted to my psyche all the sentiments that made her value you as a person, and thus I knew on a thoroughly comprehensive level how well you could help me… which leads into my second reason. You see Asriel, we have something in common: hatred. Without a SOUL, you have little else to turn to beyond hatred. And to be frank, Chara's SOUL is overflowing with hate. To that end, I not only want to put my knowledge to work. I plan on using it as a weapon, both for authority and for destruction. I'm sure you can relate to that motive." Gaster chuckled evilly, his eyes glowing fuchsia. Flowey's face broke into a huge grin for the first time in days.

"Now you're speaking my language, Doctor! I believe the word you're looking for is 'megalomania'." Flowey cackled gleefully. Gaster nodded in satisfaction.

"Yes, indeed. I knew I could count on you for your help in this regard." The doctor smiled. Flowey smiled back. At last, he had regained something akin to purpose in his life.

"So, what's the plan?"

* * *

"What did you say?" Pain asked. Though the Akatsuki's leader spoke in a tone of practiced calm, he was inwardly seething at what he had just heard. Kabuto growled slightly, having felt even more aggravation over the news he received.

"I _said_ we've lost contact with our Hidden Laboratory outpost." The doctor repeated. Pain narrowed his eyes, allowing some of his own irritation to show.

"Isn't that the location we placed near the underground monster prison, of the coast of the Land of Water? How could we have just 'lost contact'?" He grumbled in a tone somewhere in between curious, irritated and bemoaning. Kabuto rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, but we must look into this immediately. For all we know, the humans and monsters have captured that base and are on the verge of compromising our research!" He spat. Pain's eyes widened in anger.

"I _know_ that! But don't you think it would seem unlikely for something like that to happen so suddenly, without any prior warning," Pain countered, leadingly but crossly. Kabuto calmed down somewhat at that. His leader sighed.

"However, you are correct. We must find out what the cause of this is. Send a group to the Hidden Lab and report back on what has happened." Pain ordered. Kabuto nodded quickly.

"Gladly." He replied, and then rushed from the room.

"Hmmm…" Pain looked off into the middle distance, his mouth twitching in a small smirk. He couldn't be sure, but the Akatsuki leader had a hunch that someone highly resourceful was behind this little anomaly. After all, no Hidden Village could simple cut off contact from an Akatsuki base without the word getting out in some way.

"Whoever is behind this…," Pain mused. "…I look forward to meeting with them."

* * *

It has begun... Mwa ha ha. Anyways, did anyone else think that flashback was super adorable? Because that's pretty much exactly how I imagine Asriel and Chara acted when they were kids together. Do I ship them? Absolutely. Is that going to come into play in this FanFic? Well, that would be a horrible spoiler, wouldn't it? I won't say for now.

Until the next update, guys! Reviews are always welcome!


	5. Objectives

Okay, so I've been busier than expected. Hopefully I've spent enough time playing catch-up that I can finish this chapter. So, as always, I'll address the reviews that my kind readers left me.

Danmaku-OverLord: Again, language. But more importantly, I believe that question has already been answered. But since I'm nice, I'll give you a more exact figure, using kai_wolf_94's _Naruto Universe Timeline_ on Wattpad. If their dates are accurate, the barrier trapping the monsters inside the Underground was destroyed around 55 years after the founding of Konoha. If you want more detail than that, it happened in the same year that Itachi Uchiha was promoted to Chunin. This story starts a few months after that, somewhere in the ballpark of six months before Naruto joined the Ninja Academy (so he's either 4 or 5 years old at the time). That's the most precise answer I can give you.

Okay, without further ado, let's get started.

* * *

Chapter 4: Objectives

†††††

SEVERAL MONTHS LATER

* * *

Despite Frisk's absence, monsters and humans alike went on with their lives as before, coexisting with ever greater harmony. It did not take long for the leaders of the human village to recognize the opportunities afforded by their inhuman allies. Still, social disputes began to arise over the next month, regarding matters of romance between humans and monsters. This friction served as the last push the human leaders needed to begin decisively moving towards the idea of unity. In the weeks to come, Toriel and Asgore began to aid them in the organization of a single government to unite both monsters and humans into a single, multiracial village; a nation for monsters and humans alike. Though this nation would be recognized as a colony of the Land of Water, their location on an island off the mainland coast afforded a reasonable degree of autonomy.

Surprisingly enough, the matters of prejudice were dealt with first and most easily. For the humans who remained distrustful of monsters, and the monsters with the same sentiment, both of their original villages would remain for them to live separately. Any controversies that dealt with matters of racial prejudice would be addressed by the unified nation's law, and settled in the same way as any other social disturbance. While the final drafting of these laws did make allowances for the more… unavoidable barriers between species, their stipulations gave strict protection to the equality of all rights shared between each species.

Meanwhile, on a more political level, the interspecies leaders began to plan for a single, unified village to be built, uniting their individual communities and providing a safe haven for every man and monster who valued their equality. It would be many years before construction could be finished, but everyone gathered there saw it as a worthy investment for their future.

In the months to come, these developments would progress with the lives of the humans and monsters involved in the undertaking. Soon enough, their cultures began to intermingle on a more thorough level. Customs from each race began to bleed over into the society of the other, many inter-species relationships were kindled, jobs began hiring employees of each species; and so on. Roughly one year after the monsters were freed from the Underground, these communities were officially united under one government, and their community now bore a single name: Seishingakure no Sato – The Village of Souls.

Among the many things that the two species began to share, one of the most widely discussed was their techniques for wielding Chakra. The humans, of course, trained their own well-rounded ninja to contribute to the Village of the Hidden Mist. Monsters, however, wielded Chakra in a way that the humans found novel and intriguing. As the monsters and humans began training together, it seemed at face value that monsters in general possessed a natural talent for Chakra molding, as well as a prodigious reservoir of the spiritual energy. However, as Sans and Alphys began studying the matter in hopes of finding a clue to freeing Frisk, they discovered it went far deeper than that. Their findings reported that the unique nature in human SOULs and monster SOULs explained this difference in power. To wit, the Determination that monsters lacked in their SOULs was made up for by a much greater ability to process Chakra. Through their (carefully controlled) experiments, Sans and Alphys learned that monsters could retain a volume of Chakra sufficient to incinerate most human ninja, and their Chakra systems were far more developed and efficient as a result. In short, humans had a balanced affinity for every aspect of being a ninja, and could achieve the necessary levels of physical fitness and Chakra molding with extensive training in every discipline of both. Monsters, by comparison, were born with a natural talent for Chakra molding, while their aptitude in the physical demands of a ninja's repertoire varied greatly according to their physique. For example, humanoid monsters such as Asgore, Undyne and Papyrus took to these physical demands as naturally as any other human with their respective levels of skill. Yet for other monsters like Tsunderplanes, Froggits, and Temmies, physical disciplines such as Taijutsu were extremely limited.

By the time both peoples united politically, marking the official foundation of the partially-built city of Seishin, their racial and cultural distribution resembled a Venn Diagram: one village for each race on opposite sides, and the growing city of Seishin in the center, with monsters and humans living together as one people.

* * *

Early one morning, Alphys and Undyne had decided to meet each other for breakfast, and were presently walking through the streets of Seishin together.

"So…" Undyne started to converse, pausing as her voice pinched off into a long yawn. "How's your research with Sans going? Are you two any closer to saving Frisk?" Alphys released a yawn of her own before answering.

"Well, technically we haven't gotten any closer to actually returning Frisk to normal. However, conceptually speaking, Sans and I believe we're on the verge of figuring out exactly _how_ we're going to set Frisk free," Alphys began, shivering as a cold wind blew through their new home. It was a cold, windy morning, with the skies free of clouds and the ground coated in a sizable blanket of fog. Being cold-blooded, Alphys had at first been in serious trouble without the constant heat she had lived with in Hotland. But, thanks to the kindness of one human ninja, Alphys had learned a Genjutsu that essentially allowed her body to function as though it were warm-blooded. She used that Jutsu every morning, and slept beneath an electric blanket every night.

Undyne looked at her shy companion in interest.

"Really? What do you need to do?" The general asked eagerly. Alphys stiffened just a bit at Undyne's excitement.

"A-all we know for sure is that we will need to perform a powerful Sealing Jutsu… something strong enough to seal away one of our ancestors." The scientist explained with a slight stutter, to which Undyne's jaw dropped.

"Seriously? Are you telling me that Chara is as hard to contain as one of the Bijuu?!" She exclaimed, her expression and tone of voice both positively gob-smacked. Alphys giggled.

"Err… yeah, basically. Determination is a hard thing to contain, and Chara has a _lot_ of it." She replied, somewhat more evenly. By then, the two reptilian women had reached their destination: a quaint, two-storied restaurant bearing the name "Muffet's Tea Parlor".

Though the humanoid arachnid had at first inspired nothing but fear and disquiet in any human who met her, her widespread spider bake sales didn't take long to grow in popularity. Moreover, by the time construction began on the city of Seishin, Muffet felt comfortable enough to move there and use her talents more constructively. To wit, she opened a restaurant where she sold tea, baked goods and assorted breakfast and lunch items. Not only did Muffet acquire the recipes for the Underground's better known foods (like Cinnamon Bunnies and Toriel's Cinnamon-Butterscotch Pie), but she also broadened her skills by learning how to make many of the humans' local food and drinks (coffee being one of the more challenging items).

Muffet's Tea Parlor had official opened one month ago, and became one of Seishin's most popular eateries almost overnight, right alongside Grillby's reopened bar. Between the contents of their menus, Muffet specialized in foods suited for breakfast, Grillby offered a selection preferable for dinner, and both offered a nominal variety of lunch items. Despite nearly running herself ragged every day, Muffet poured her heart and soul into her restaurant, and took genuine delight in ensuring customer satisfaction. Her obsequious charisma never failed to put her customers at ease, and the human population of Seishin eventually grew accustomed to having a Tsuchigumo for a hostess. According to her last conversation with Alphys, Muffet had even started to hire human employees!

The restaurant's door opened with a pleasant jingle, revealing a room dominated by a long, semicircular counter and several obvious necessities behind it: a menu board, a cash register and a few other important utilities. Curiously enough, the only door leading out of the room lie behind the counter. In each adjacent corner of the room was a winding staircase wide enough to accommodate two people at a time. Undyne and Alphys knew each stairway led to the dining area, which encompassed the entire second floor.

"Oh! Just a moment, please!" A human girl yelped, scurrying back behind the counter she had been wiping from the front. She looked no older than seventeen, and wore her long brunette hair in an intricate four-strand braid that stretched just over a foot in length. Her uniform resembled a stereotypical maid's outfit in design, yet with many notable differences. It lacked any frills; the skirt reached past her knees; the sleeves ended just above her elbows; a pair of high-heeled, lace-up boots graced her legs; and its color scheme was done in purple and green rather than black-and-white. As the girl hurried to her post, Alphys and Undyne caught sight of her black-on-bronze name-tag: Shikui.

"Welcome! How may we serve you this fine morning?" Shikui chirped politely, with a smile and a quick wave. Alphys and Undyne scrutinized the menu and thought over what they wanted. Centered at the top of the menu were two lines of cursive text:

†

I have within my pantry good store of all that's nice;

I'm sure you're very welcome – will you please to take a slice?

†

As Undyne and Alphys pondered their choices, Shikui suddenly gasped.

"Wait as second, I recognize you! You're General Undyne!" The waitress squeaked excitedly. Undyne looked down from the menu at her and grinned.

"Yep, that's me, kid. I'm guessing Muffet's told you about us?" Undyne chuckled proudly. Shikui nodded vigorously.

"Oh yes, absolutely! She talks about you and her other Underground friends so much in her spare time! Nearly all of my coworkers know about all of you," Shikui went on excitedly, and then looked down at the shorter of the two reptile ladies. "Dr. Alphys, I presume?" Alphys blushed lightly at her recognition, but nodded.

"Yes, indeed." She replied softly. Shikui grinned.

"Splendid! Once I take your orders, I must inform Miss Muffet that you are here!" she chimed brightly. Moments later, Undyne and Alphys were following Shikui up one of the winding staircases. The top landing opened up into a dining area the size of a ballroom. Everywhere they looked, they saw low tables with white table clothes and kneeling cushions in lieu of chairs. On one end of the wall was a long mirror that blended in with the dark-colored wall paint perfectly, making it seem as though the wall itself was reflecting the rest of the room. The other end of the room was lined with large, shuttered windows bordered by fine, white curtains similar to the tablecloths. The dimly colored room was furnished with a huge spread of elegant chandeliers in varying sizes, though at the moment the room was lit by sunlight filtering through the windows. A few people had already arrived to have breakfast, but the room was mostly empty at that time of morning. Shikui rushed off as soon as she showed Undyne and Alphys to their seats.

"Miss Muffet!" She called, already charging back down the stairs. As soon as she was gone, Undyne burst out laughing.

"Oh my God… that girl is a crack-up! She reminds me of that one Monster Kid who follows me around sometimes." Undyne guffawed, regaining her self-control after a few moments of laughter. Alphys couldn't help but giggle at her partner's mirth.

"Yeah… she certainly seemed excited to meet us." Alphys agreed. Moments later, they heard footsteps hurrying up the stairs, followed by the form of Muffet herself, still in her work clothes. But she had a huge grin on her face.

"Alphys! Undyne! Great to see you guys!" She squealed in delight, rushing over and hugging them both with her three pairs of arms. Alphys and Undyne returned her embrace with similar enthusiasm.

"It's great to see you too, girl! We haven't gotten together like this in weeks!" Undyne concurred heartily. Alphys pulled away after a moment.

"W-well… why don't we all start having breakfast here from now on: the three of us, Mettaton, Sans, Papyrus, Asgore and Toriel?" she suggested shyly. Muffet's eight eyes all lit up.

"Oh my God, that's an _amazing_ idea! Once I hire a few more people, I can have them cover my shift during the time we meet. We'd just have to make sure we all showed up at the right time every day…" Muffet gushed, clearly ecstatic over the idea Alphys had just posed. The scientist nodded her ascent.

"Of course," she replied simply. With that, the three monster women knelt down at their table and began catching up on all they had missed during Muffet's long stint of hard working. The tsuchigumo had a lot to tell them about all she had accomplished, all the menu items she had worked into their inventory, all the wonderful people she had hired, and so on. In turn, Undyne and Alphys shared their own experiences. Undyne had been hard at work training Papyrus to unlock his full potential (an undertaking that he pursued with just as much zeal as herself), along with all of her other assorted duties that came with being a general in times of peace. Alphys, in turn, shared many of the discoveries that she and Sans had made in their studies. But soon Muffet's most pressing question came to light.

"So, how's Frisk? Are you any closer to bringing him back?" She asked, a little apprehensively. Alphys sighed.

"Not exactly. But like I told Undyne, Sans and I have a fairly certain idea of _how_ we're going to bring him back. It will require a Sealing Jutsu; one with at least enough power to securely seal one of the nine Bijuu." Alphys repeated her point, with greater certainty than when she told Undyne. Muffet gasped.

"W-wow… As far as I know, the last person who managed that was Minato Namikaze, the fourth leader of the Hidden Leaf Village. And he's been dead for years," She gaped. "Is Chara really that strong?" Alphys laughed nervously.

"Sans and I don't know for sure how strong Chara really is. On one hand, she couldn't hold a candle to any of the Bijuu in terms of raw power. Yet at the same time, the potency of her Chakra paired with her uncanny ability to mix it with Determination makes her several times more destructive than even the Nine-Tailed Fox. It's no wonder Chara was able to destroy all of reality in the Genocide time-line: she has enough power to literally rip through time and space." The scientist explained, continuing her explanation in moderation as their food arrived. Muffet listened thoughtfully as she chewed her ham and cheese croissant. Once Alphys finished, the spider-lady sipped her tea and stayed quiet for several moments.

"Yeah… I know we'll find a way to pull it off. But it sure as Hell won't be easy." Undyne said in a purposefully upbeat tone. Suddenly, Muffet's face lit up again, this time with realization.

"Guys! I think I just found out the answer!" Muffet gasped, earning the attention of both of her customers.

"Really? Well don't leave us guessing, Muffet! What's your idea?" Undyne blurted energetically. Muffet took a moment to regain her composure before going on.

"Well, Mettaton recently told me about an interview he had with one of Konoha's Shinobi. His name was Kakashi Hatake, and Mettaton said he knew everything about everything when it came to the world of ninja. If anyone can tell us how to save Frisk, it's him!" Muffet explained in excitement. Alphys clapped her hands once, and then started rubbing them together.

"Excellent. I must inform Mettaton and arrange a meeting with Mr. Hatake as soon as possible!" The doctor proclaimed eagerly, a determined glint in her eyes. Undyne recognized the look: it happened whenever Alphys learned how to figure out something important. The spear-wielder laughed at her partner's energy, lightening the mood back to where it had started.

"Well, heavy stuff aside, I've been hard at work whipping Papyrus into shape." Undyne chuckled, and then began recounting the progress she had made in training Papyrus. Both monsters had begun learning how to shape their magic into Jutsu, reducing the power of their spells in exchange for giving them more complex functions. Both took to it naturally, given their kind's affinity for Chakra molding.

In the areas of weapons and Taijutsu, however, Undyne clearly filled the role of teacher to Papyrus' student. On one hand, the skeleton proved talented in the use of nearly every kind of mid-sized blade. Moreover, his natural speed and agility gave him the edge in unarmed combat. But on the other hand, Papyrus had to work hard at most of everything else despite how teachable he remained. His literal lack of muscle limited him to soft martial arts and the handful of hard styles that accommodated his lack of strength. In regards to weapons, Papyrus had no real barriers to learning at a reasonable pace. Still, his lack of muscles barred him from weapons that demanded a lot of strength, like bows and battle axes.

Aside from that, however, Undyne conceded that Papyrus proved himself to be an extremely skilled and well-rounded fighter. The general even admitted to having lost their last duel, though she failed miserably at keeping the pride out of her voice.

"Wow! So, how has Papyrus done in actual battles?" Muffet asked, her tone dripping with curiosity. Undyne grinned widely.

"He's a beast in combat. To be fair, we usually only have to deal with violent demons, a handful of missions for the Hidden Mist, and several things dealing with that crime syndicate: the Akatsuki. But Papyrus has kicked butt and taken names on every mission he's been on," Undyne snickered, then added conspiratorially, "Every opponent I've seen him fight one-on-one has complained about his Gravity Jutsu techniques." Muffet voiced one of her trademark giggles upon hearing that. After a few more minutes of amicable conversation, Undyne stood.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat longer, but I've gotta meet that bone-head for the first half of our training. Sans is taking his turn at running their comic shop, so I better not keep his brother waiting!" After paying her half of the bill and exchanging goodbyes with her friends, Undyne took her leave. Many sets of eyes, human and monster, watched her go in awed recognition. The reptilian woman had earned a reputation of strength and competence throughout all of Seishin, and hearing her talk drew the attention of many who identified her.

* * *

That night, Papyrus strode into Grillby's confidently, his red cape swishing and his signature armor clanking. Spending the whole day training with Undyne always put the skeletal soldier in a good mood.

"Hey Papyrus!" Grillby called to him upon hearing the door open and seeing his regular customer. The rest of the restaurant's regulars greeted Papyrus with similar enthusiasm and even a few cheers. If the proud soldier had lips, his grin would have widened.

"Hey bro," Sans greeted as Papyrus slid into the booth beside him. "You have fun workin' your fingers to the bone with General Undyne?" Papyrus snorted as his brother's consistently clever wordplay, but he couldn't help but find it endearingly amusing.

"Indeed, Sans. I guess you could say her demanding regime is now… bred in my bones?" Papyrus returned in kind. The skeletons both laughed.

"Hey, good one Pap. That was a really rib-tickler." Sans chuckled, prolonging their laughter even more. Grillby had a laugh of his own over that.

"Good to see you two here for dinner again. I guess you'll both be having your usual?" The flaming barkeep asked sanguinely. Both brothers nodded, and Grillby hurried back into the kitchen, shouting orders to his cooks. Papyrus took on a relaxed posture similar to his brother's, albeit more dignified by comparison.

"So, I heard from Undyne that you and Alphys are close to finding out how to free Frisk?" The younger brother stated after a moment of comfortable silence. Sans' face darkened ever so slightly.

"Yeah, we've cut the answer down to the bone. Now we just need a way to actually do it. Alphys called and told me about talking to this one dude from the Land of Fire… Tadashi…? No, wait… Kakashi! Forgot his name for a second there…" Sans chuckled, steadily regaining his trademark humor as he spoke. But Papyrus could tell his brother was somewhat worried.

"Sans? Your excitement seems oddly subdued… Is something bothering you?" He probed, not keen on letting his brother's mood go unattended. Sans sighed softly.

"Just a little, bro. It's not too big of a deal now, but it's got me worried, y'know," He began, continuing after his brother nodded understandingly. "See, Frisk has been in that Life Sustenance Chamber for almost half a year now. When Alphys and I first finished the contraption, we were pretty much certain it'd have no side-effects. But it turns out we were wrong." Sans explained. His mood wasn't genuinely glum, but it had lost its normal spectrum of mirth. Papyrus' eye-sockets widened in shock.

"What? Wh-what's happened?" He exclaimed. Sans chuckled a little at his brother's worry.

"Like I said Pap, it's nothing serious right now. But long story short, the LSC has started to reverse his aging." Sans said with another sigh. Papyrus' jaw would have fallen off if it hadn't been held in place.

"Wh-what… how can that possibly be considered 'nothing serious'?!" The younger skeleton spluttered. Sans laughed outright at his growing shock.

"Cuz' it's happening _real_ slowly. Like watching-paint-dry slowly," Sans clarified with a chuckle. "Worst case scenario, the kid'll loose a couple of months, but I'm sure we can get help before his life is put in any real kinda danger." Papyrus exhaled in relief.

"Oh thank goodness. You had me worried, Sans. And that's no small feat!" The soldier proclaimed, inciting both brothers to start laughing again. Their food arrived soon afterward, to which both brothers eagerly dug in. At Papyrus' insistence, Grillby had perfected a recipe for what the exuberant skeleton dubbed "his perfected spaghetti". Thus, the pasta was named "The Papyrus Special", and while its namesake had yet to replicate the dish, it had quickly gained popularity among Grillby's customers. This of course, included the one who had commissioned the menu item to begin with.

"So… how has training with Undyne gone exactly? I'm wonderin' what else you've learned about fighting like a human." Sans goaded. For his part, the lazier skeleton had stuck with learning Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, plus a handful of Taijutsu styles that complemented his low-mobility preference. Having taught himself the bedrock principles of quantum physics, it didn't take the knowledgeable monster long to convert all of his techniques into Jutsu and then supplement it with a few others. He and Papyrus had even dueled the week before, giving the younger skeleton a taste of the Hell Chara had gone through. Even with his broad skill-set, Papyrus had still suffered a one-sided defeat against his older sibling. But Papyrus answered his brother eagerly.

"Well Sans, Undyne has begun to teach me a few Taijutsu style that target the weak-points in my opponent's body, and a few others that rely on my agility. My personal favorite is the Hydra Strike style. It's chock full of high-speed combos and a few attacks particularly crippling to humanoid physiology," Papyrus gushed. "Nyeh heh heh! I look forward to mastering it, because it is a style truly worthy of me: The Great Papyrus!" Sans rolled his eyes in amusement at the familiar proclamation, taking another bite out of his burger. Papyrus finished his current forkful of spaghetti before going on.

"And that's not all! I've heard we're on the verge of locating that elusive Akatsuki base. Our intel reveals that it is nestled somewhere in the slopes of Mount Ebott!" The soldier boasted. Sans grinned.

"Well, that's good to hear. Hopefully those jerks will be out of our hair sooner than later." He chuckled. After another fifteen minutes, Papyrus' phone rang. The skeleton dug it out of his pocket, and saw that Undyne was calling.

"Yes, General?" He answered formally, knowing that Undyne was not the kind to call this late at night for an unimportant reason.

"Papyrus! I need your help at the capital right away! We're in serious…" The call suddenly cut off, and Papyrus looked at the phone display in askance. It read: "Call disconnected." And Undyne's voice had been just as urgent as her message.

"Sans, come with me. Undyne is in danger." Papyrus ordered seriously. Sans stopped what he was doing immediately. Papyrus' voice had dropped an entire octave, and his face had melted into an expression of disciplined focus. He knew that look; Undyne had described it in great detail the first time she had seen him in battle. Sans paid their tab and got up right away.

"You got it, bro."

* * *

Moments later, the skeletal duo materialized outside the capital building of the Monster's District of Seishin. It was modeled after Asgore's castle in the Underground, but adapted from a medieval castle to a more practical government building. It was eerily quiet, with only the top floor illuminated.

"Well… this already seems bone-chilling." Sans murmured, and then followed Papyrus inside. The sight they were met with inside made both skeletons thankful for their lack of flesh-and-blood intestines. Every monster and human in the room had been brutally murdered, decorating the walls and floor with blood, dust and other gory remains. Though many had been killed by plant-related Jutsu, several of the injuries they saw required inhuman precision and strength: cleanly bisected torsos, heads and limbs ground into paste, and cleanly snapped femurs.

"I-is Undyne still here…?" Sans stammered a bit in shock. Suddenly, they heard a low-pitched, feminine cry of anger, followed by the sound of an explosion.

"Yep, she's still here." Papyrus decided, then ran to the staircase and flew straight up with his Gravity Jutsu. Sans sighed and quickly flash-stepped after him. When they got to the top, they were met with a sight that made no sense to any of their eyes.

Undyne was fighting Flowey, except that it wasn't Flowey. The strange humanoid plant undoubtedly had Flowey's face and his flowering head. But his body was some strange, humanoid amalgamation of plant matter that looked disturbingly normal wherever his tissue remained unbroken. He fought with a huge arsenal of Wood Release Jutsu, and a deadly mix of Taijutsu. But most impossibly of all was the person standing by watching the struggle.

"Dad?!" Sans and Papyrus exclaimed at the same time. Gaster turned his head towards his two adoptive sons, smiling warmly.

"Hello boys. We've been expecting you," He addressed them cordially, and then turned to his sociopathic partner. "Alright Asriel, you've had your fun. Let's wrap this up." Flowey groaned.

"Fine," The transformed villain whined, then executed a blinding sequence of hand signs. "Entrapping Vines!" Even as he spoke the Jutsu, Undyne was engulfed by a tangle of stout plant roots that tightly ensnared the spear-wielding reptile. Her spear clattered to the ground.

"Dad, what's going on?" Papyrus pleaded, not understanding what was happening on in the slightest. Gaster chuckled, and his expression darkened.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, Papyrus my boy. You see, that experiment that separated us all those years ago didn't kill me: it sent me to a dimensional vacuum beyond time or space. But I eventually gained the ability to look into the past, and interact with the departed SOULs passing through that void to the realm beyond. I used Chara's SOUL to return, and soon realized many of the same things she did upon returning from death." Gaster explained calmly, unnerving his two sons and quickly boring Flowey.

"C'mon Doc. Can't we just get to the…" The plant-thing started to protest. But Gaster raised one of his hands, and with a flash of his eyes, Flowey froze completely.

"There. Now we won't be interrupted." Gaster smoothly remarked. Sans finally lost his patience.

"Dad, what's going on? Why are you working with a murderer like Flowey? What are you doing here?!" He demanded, hardly believing his father could be so calm in the face of such violence. Gaster laughed chillingly.

"Sans… you can't understand how it feels to be driven by a SOUL with so much Determination… so much hatred… But it compels me to look at the world with honesty and analytical cynicism. I've looked into the past, and I have seen the horrors wrought by humans and demons alike. It leads me to believe that Kaguya-ōkasan was right: power only belongs in the hands of one." Gaster rambled, a far-off look in his eyes. Papyrus' eyes hardened.

"I… I think I see what you're saying, Father. You're talking about how often people do horrible things, whether they're humans or monsters." Papyrus ventured. Gaster looked as his son and nodded vigorously.

"Yes, Papyrus. I see that you learned from the things Frisk explained to you." The doctor agreed. Papyrus grit his teeth.

"But Father, you must know about the other things he said as well! It's not worth it to fixate on the consequences of our faults. It accomplishes so much more to rise above it and do something." He protested, to which Gaster groaned.

"I was worried you would say that. Son, let me explain something to you. Monsters and humans have been trying to do just that for literal centuries. My observations have revealed that tactic to be as ineffective as fighting a forest fire with fire-hoses. The fire inevitably spreads faster than it gets extinguished." Gaster lectured firmly. Sans' eyes darkened in anger.

"Well, then what's the alternative? Giving in and let everything burn down? You saw how well that worked when Chara started killing everyone in the Underground!" Sans snapped in frustration. The person he was speaking to no longer seemed like his father. He barely recognized anything about him beyond his familiar appearance. Gaster clicked his tongue.

"No Sans. Haven't you ever heard of fighting fire with fire? You need only burn away enough of the blaze's fuel to stop it from spreading," Gaster explained simply, and pointed to the floor. "The corpses you saw on the ground floor are little more than the first smoldering embers." Undyne, who had bided her time listening to Gaster for the sake of information, finally began struggling to free herself.

"You're insane Gaster! That implies we ought to let people destroy themselves!" The general barked furiously. Gaster laughed again.

"Have you heard of what a fire does to a forest's ecosystem over time, Undyne? The ashes render the soil incredibly fertile, and given the right treatment the entire forest can grow back in half the time that it took to come about naturally. And I've found people who share my interest in such reforestation," The scientist laughed, and then clasped his hands together. "Release." Gaster's black robes flickered as the Genjutsu dissolved, revealing the red clouds decorating it. Everyone present, aside from the still-frozen Flowey, gasped aloud.

"The Akatsuki…" Papyrus gaped. Gaster laughed again, and waved his hand again. Flowey immediately unfroze, and growled in anger.

"Don't _do_ that!" The murderer snarled. Gaster chuckled some more.

"Sorry Asriel, but I couldn't have you interrupting my moment with my sons. Now, let's continue with our plans," The scientist apologized breezily, then rapidly signed out another Jutsu. "Quattuordextrous Jutsu!" Suddenly, twelve white, disembodied hands surrounded Gaster, flashing with a rainbow of colors. He flicked one towards Sans and Papyrus, and a wall of green energy barred them from everyone else in the room. Papyrus bounded against the barrier.

"Undyne!" He shouted determinedly, but his superior shook her head.

"Papyrus, you've got to retreat. Warn the others as soon as you can!" She barked. Gaster nonchalantly used one of his extra hands to open a hole in the air like a small curtain. He then withdrew something else that confused his two sons.

"The SOULs," Sans blurted. "But how?" Gaster shrugged.

"The same way I retrieved Chara's." He answered succinctly. He thrust his hands out, and the six time-displaced SOULs floated over to Flowey, who eagerly assimilated them all.

"Finally…" He growled gleefully, and began glowing blindingly white.

"ENOUGH!" Papyrus spat, then quickly signed his own Jutsu. "Spatial Release!" Reversing his own gravity once again, Papyrus soared towards the ceiling, slicing through it with a Chakra-strengthened slash. Then, he returned his Gravity to normal and repeated the process while falling through the ceiling on the other side of the force-field. Flowey, his humanoid shape fully restored (and his head replaced by a TV screen bearing his face), grinned wildly and thrust out his hand.

"Impale!" he incanted, using the precision granted by his extra SOULs to simplify his commands. Dozens of vines sprouted from the ground as if from soil, flashing towards Papyrus like arrows. But the younger skeleton slashed through them with a fierce battle-cry, and then changed his gravity again to fling himself towards Undyne. Gaster grinned in amusement, lowering the force-field and regarding his oldest son smugly.

"Well Sans? Are you going to try and stop me as well?" He challenged leadingly, but the mirth of the doctor's voice had started to melt into something darker. Sans sighed.

"As much as I don't wanna fight my old man, I'd rather do that then let him hurt my friends." Sans admitted, unleashing a torrent of bones on his father as he spoke.

The battle quickly tore apart the room containing it. Papyrus liberated Undyne after only a few extra seconds of cutting, and the two confronted Flowey's empowered form in tandem. Meanwhile, Sans and Gaster had locked themselves in a heated Ninjutsu duel. True to his claims, Gaster commanded an enourmous variety of Jutsus employing every Nature Release imaginable. Even without his vast arsenal, Gaster also fought with a strange type of Spatial Release then allowed him to jump through wormholes and change the flow of time in his vicinity. For all his power, Sans had to fight with everything he had to keep Gaster from gaining an advantage.

"So, you allied yourselves with the Akatsuki, huh?" Sans remarked sadly. Gaster snorted.

"You make it sound so demeaning. I used a long-extinct Jutsu to realign their thoughts and attitudes with my way of seeing things. Anyone who was capable of being reasoned with immediately changed their tune to willing cooperation. Anyone else was either killed or imprisoned." Gaster responded with a hint of distaste. Flowey laughed nearby.

"That's right! Pretty soon, Gaster and I will be meeting with the Akatsuki's higher-ups so we can actually start getting things done!" He shouted in glee as he hurled a cloud of missiles towards his opponents. The resulting explosions made short work of the floor, but everyone present had the training and skills to keep fighting through the falling debris.

"ASRIEL! What did I tell you about heeding your surroundings?!" Gaster screamed in anger. Flowey rolled his eyes.

"C'mon Doc. It's not like we need this place for anything." The former prince whined, before returning his attention to Papyrus and Undyne. The two artfully leaped through the falling pieces of floor towards their opponent. While both proved to be much faster than Flowey in spite of the notable speed he boasted, the difference in power between them gave Flowey more control of the fight. It wouldn't take more than a few hits for the plant-thing to kill either one of them. The five monsters began crashing through each floor, the weight of each layer of debris proving too much for the floor below it. Still, no one was able to get another word in edge-wise until they all reached the ground floor. Gaster flashed another of his twisted smiles.

"Well boys, I'd love to stay and play 'Kill or Be Killed' some more, but Flowey and I have more work to do. And you three had better get outside and help the others get to safety," Gaster taunted enigmatically. "But first…" Time slowed to a crawl all around them, with only Gaster and Flowey moving normally. Undyne, Sans and Papyrus all lost their ability to move at a visible pace. The doctor began signing through a particularly long Jutsu then soon led to his fuchsia eyes and multicolored hands glowing brightly. Finally, he slapped all fourteen of his palms together.

"Sealing Art: Soul Binding!" Gaster intoned, and the Six SOULs within Flowey began glowing as well. Their glow steadily faded as a Seal traced itself over Flowey's chest, steadily forcing down their light. Sans was certain he knew what he saw: Gaster was sealing the Six SOULs inside Flowey's body, tightly securing his control over them. When the Jutsu ended, time returned to its normal speed. Flowey sighed.

"Much better," he murmured contentedly, and then looked at the three monsters he and Gaster had been fighting. Then he began growing in size while simultaneously leaning towards them.

"This is the part where you run away." He whispered evilly, his body contorting into his unrestrained Six-SOUL Form.

* * *

If I could insert sound bites into this document, I would be saying "Click here for a vocalization of my reaction to this chapter." (If you're curious, the link attached to the word 'here' would play Omega Flowey's laugh) XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

So yeah, Dr. Gaster is a badass evil mastermind that wormed his way into the Akatsuki. And for the sake of eradicating confusion: Gaster retrieved the other six human SOULs the same way he retrieved Chara's SOUL. He stepped into "The Void" (for lack of a more original name) and retrieved them immediately after their "death" upon destroying the Barrier (you know, at the end of the Pacifist Route). And yeah, Gaster can travel into The Void whenever he wants. Is Gaster kind of a Game Breaker because of his newfound power? In the normal Undertale universe, Hell yes. But in the Naruto universe, he's only strong enough to get by as a leading villain like Pain and Madara. He won't be able to curb-stomp everyone for long.

Also, Papyrus is a badass, too. Does that conflict with his character? Not when he acts like himself in peaceful circumstances. If you want a concise definition of how this fits with Papyrus' character, look up the "Let's Get Dangerous" trope.

Another confusion inducer: why is Flowey acting like Gaster's Dragon (another trope reference)? Simple: he know's Gaster's plan, and desires the results enough to help him follow it. But we're not through with Flowey's character arc yet… only time will tell you where I plan on taking it. Hee hee hee…

So, hoped you guys liked this chapter as much as the others. The next will be even worse suspense-wise. *evil grin*

Toodles!


	6. Occupation

Wow… At the time this was written, this story has been published for just over a whole month, and over eighteen hundred people have viewed it! Somebody sing "Everything is Awesome"! Okay, sorry. I'm just excited that people are enjoying my writing. :D

Danmaku-OverLord: Thank you. *bursts out laughing at your reaction*

Okay, let's get back to it.

* * *

Chapter 5: Occupation

Alphys felt panicked, more so than any other incident in her life (barring the Amalgamte disaster). Every camera she had scattered throughout the three districts of Seishin showed her the same thing: an army of bandits, mercenaries, and Akatsuki shinobi closing in on all three capitals. Aside from their clear disinterest in taking the lives of innocents, they left a wake of destruction wherever they went. Homes were looted and/or burned, stores were picked clean, Seishin shinobi lay dead all throughout the streets, and so on. She had dispatched Mettaton to aid Toriel and Muffet, who had taken the initiative in getting everyone to safety.

An alarm went off, alerting her that someone had breached the lab. Alphys stiffened in fright, but then looked over at the LSC. Frisk's peaceful face looked back at her, reminding her of the bravery he had shown in protecting his friends when Chara resurfaced. Regaining her resolve, Alphys set the LSC to Lockdown Mode: a function which enclosed the device in a protective casing designed to withstand any damage that would otherwise destroy it. She then turned to see a half dozen fully-equipped Akatsuki shinobi.

Two of the figures stuck out to Alphys. The first was clearly the leader, judging by the way he carried himself. He had a moderately tall build, with waist-length black hair, pale skin, sharp facial features and golden eyes with slit pupils. She recognized him as one of the more prominent members of the Akatsuki, and dimly remembered his name: Orochimaru.

The other figure caught her attention because of how young he was. He couldn't have been any older than Frisk. He had startling blue eyes, long blonde hair, and carried himself with an air of confidence despite being the youngest person in the room (excluding Frisk).

"Ah. Dr. Alphys, I presume?" Orochimaru greeted smoothly, describing a measured tone of civility. The reptilian woman narrowed her eyes, and slowly folded her hands behind her back, inside her open lab coat. Her opponents tensed, but when she made no move to attack they relaxed slightly.

"What do you want?" She asked darkly. The pale Sannin smirked.

"Dispensing with pleasantries, eh? I suppose I can appreciate that given the context. So I'll humor you and get to the point: we've come for Frisk. Dead or alive, he is an asset to our cause, particularly if Kabuto gets the chance to use him for… furthering your research." Orochimaru stated succinctly, dropping his polite tone almost eagerly, like a mailman setting down a heavy package. Alphys looked to the ground, nervously wracking her brain for some way out of her predicament. But after a moment, she smiled menacingly and closed her hand around the weapon holstered in the back of her lab coat.

"Sorry, but Frisk isn't going anywhere. Especially not with you…" She whispered. Without wasting a second, Alphys drew the weapon she had been perfecting: a handgun modeled after the basic design of Frisk's Empty Revolver. However, Alphys' scientific expertise had allowed her to improve it one-thousand-fold. A fraction of a second after she drew the weapon, Alphys quickly put a bullet between the eyes of one of Orochimaru's flunkies, and immediately retreated several steps as her opponents advanced. Alphys couldn't hold a candle to any of her friends in terms of fitness, but her monstrous biology naturally gave her the speed and strength of an average Tokubetsu Jonin. She was easily able to holster her weapon and dodge her opponents' attacks long enough to sign a Jutsu.

" **Raiton: Organic Conduction**!" She intoned. Immediately, a chain of electricity poured from Alphys' hands, snaking towards each criminal as if they were a metal rod in a room made of rubber. Another of the lesser ninjas went down, his jerking body telling Alphys she had likely stopped his heart. The blonde boy artfully managed to avoid the attack, and Orochimaru all but absorbed it, like it had been a weakly-thrown punch. The pale man grimaced.

"Hm… I didn't think you would stoop to weapons as primitive as fire-arms. Then again, I suppose monsters would have to resort to such things to compensate for their inferiority." The Sannin taunted smugly, but Alphys had a hunch she had gotten his goat. She gave him an audacious smile of her own.

"Shows how much you know, snake. Bullets can cover a distance of 762 meters in a second. Though they would hinder the free-handed methods of a traditional shinobi, guns are enormously faster and deadlier than any other projectile weapon. That's why I made sure to include a few in my arsenal." The scientist remarked snidely. She then shrugged off her lab coat, revealing the outfit underneath.

She had modeled it after the uniforms of modern soldiers, as described by the Underground's records of human history. The ensemble included a chainmail undergarment (which went visibly unnoticed); a snug but modest yellow camouflage top layered with kelvar; a pair of shin-length cargo pants of the same color and design; and a heavy green jacket reinforced with Chakra-enhanced, metal-and-cardboard plating designed to keep out bullets, kunai and Jutsu.

"Monsters may not have the same advantages as human, Orochimaru. But we're capable of just as many things that you aren't," Alphys retorted, and drew her most recently finished projects from the pair of holsters on her back: two Chakra-powered SMGs. "Your move." For a moment, all four of the remaining Akatsuki shinobi hesitated, both in confusion and fear. Eventually, Orochimaru sighed.

"You three should retreat. Ensure that the capitals are secured. I will handle the good doctor." The Sannin groused, to which all three ninja obeyed. Soon, the two snake-eyed combatants had the room to themselves.

"I don't even know how Gaster convinced Pain that this was a good idea. How could one boy possibly pose such a threat to our plans," Orochimaru wondered with an undertone of complaint, then regarded Alphys. "Hmph. I suppose I should be thankful this little skirmish at least pit me against a worthy, albeit unorthodox, opponent." The Sannin then assumed a fighting stance.

"Let the games begin."

* * *

The HUD that accompanied Mettaton's sight flashed with an urgency-marked notification, his brain immediately processing and recognizing it as a live video feed from Alphys' lab. The robot had just finished getting all of the human leaders of Seishin to safety. He and Alphys had known what had to be done in case this became necessary: fleeing into the cities of the Underground was the most logical course of action. This, of course, meant they had to prepare it for siege. Their plan entailed a nearly-inaccessible secret entrance to the Underground, one that led to Asgore's well-protected castle and required SOUL-Scan (which confirmed a person's identity by the Chakra frequencies of their SOUL) to be opened. Moreover, the barrier that once barred escape from the Underground had collapsed, so the most obvious entrance was blocked by a hundred-ton wall of rubble.

With more of a warning, he and Alphys might have been able to evacuate everyone in advance. Sadly, however, they didn't have that luxury. But thankfully, it appeared the Akatsuki didn't have the manpower necessary to wage total war on Seishin. This was clearly a sting operation designed to quickly seize power and retain occupation until reinforcements arrived. Still, it would take a significant amount of time to evacuate everyone. Especially with Asgore, Undyne, Sans and Papyrus occupied by the task of holding Flowey and Dr. Gaster at bay. The reappearance of the latter had shocked Mettaton at first, but he hadn't the time to dwell on it.

Once he had the chance, Mettaton activated the video feed, which replaced the vision in his right eye. What he saw shook him: Alphys was fighting the S-Class criminal Orochimaru. _Alone_. She was holding her own at the moment, but it wouldn't take long for the evil Sannin to lose interest and commit himself to killing her.

"Toriel! Muffet!" He called, addressing to two women aiding him in the rescue effort. They looked at him quickly, heeding his urgent voice.

"You're gonna have to evacuate the citizens without me! Alphys is facing one of the Akatsuki's top guns by herself, and I don't know how long she'll last! I need to go help her!" The celebrity ordered. Toriel and Muffet nodded wordlessly, rushing off to start helping the civilians of Seishin.

As Mettaton teleported directly to Alphys' lab, the battle against Gaster and Flowey raged on. The fight progressed much as it had before, with Sans and Gaster in an intense deadlock that no one could successfully intervene in. Meanwhile, Asgore, Papyrus and Undyne were all kept on their toes while fighting Flowey. In his Six-SOUL Form, he boasted an impossibly high level of HP and Defense, and his attacks collectively inflicted ludicrous amounts of damages to anything they connected with, living or non-living. It didn't help that Flowey's six-fold Determination allowed him to abruptly jump time forwards or backwards, similar to the method Sans had used in the latter portion of his battle against Chara in the "genocide timeline" as it had come to be known. The trio was forced to consistently stay at the top of their game to keep Flowey from gaining the upper hand. Meanwhile, the former prince seemed to be having the time of his life.

"HAHAHAHAHAAA! I HAVEN'T HAD THIS MUCH FUN SINCE THE LAST TIME I FOUGHT FRISK!" Flowey laughed, loosing another swarm of giant flies at his opponents. Asgore frowned, burning half the insects to ashes, while Papyrus and Undyne attacked Flowey's face with the twelfth time… at least.

"Keep talkin', you crazed cyber-plant! We're not even close to beaten yet!" Undyne spat back, hacking through the spear-like vines Flowey fired to intercept her. Papyrus, meanwhile, finally managed to get around Flowey's laser-shooting, vertical jaws and promptly stabbed his underbelly.

"OH, THAT KINDA ITCHS. GUESS I SHOULD MAKE LIKE A DOG AND USE THE GROUND TO SCRATCH MYSELF." Flowey chuckled, and then lowered himself to the ground. The cables holding him up, which seemingly stabbed through the empty space above him like fabric, groaned under his weight as they lengthened. Papyrus' eyes widen, and he quickly used his Gravity Jutsu to hold Flowey back until he escaped, then promptly returned to taking offense.

"Dammit, this sucks!" Undyne complained as Flowey fired another volley of missiles at them.

* * *

"Perhaps you were right, Alphys. Properly applied technology makes for a more effective tool then I thought." Orochimaru mused. Between the varied gadgetry that Alphys and Mettaton employed, the Sannin was forced to abstain from holding back as much as he normally would. Having been accustomed to fighting humans almost exclusively, he was not prepared for the difficulties in fighting monsters.

Between Orochimaru's ludicrous mastery of Justu, and the ranged arsenal boasted by Alphys and Mettaton, the battle involved minimal degrees of close-combat. The few times either side closed in on the other was when Mettaton took advantage of an opening and got in close to press that advantage. Moreover, Alphys and Mettaton were both well-equipped to counter nearly all of the Sannin's Jutsu, having taken the necessary measures to contribute to demands of Seishin's shinobi. Mettaton's body was completely resistant to all Genjutsu, allowing him to perceive the illusions as little more than low-budget special effects. That alone visibly annoyed Orochimaru, and he appeared equally frustrated towards Alphys' Charka-resistant armor.

"Kusenagi," he ordered, causing the sword to rip free of the wall and come to his outstretched hand. His blade had given Orochimaru a slight advantage, though it failed to cleave through Mettaton's body like he initially expected. Still, it helped even out his close-range disadvantage.

"Give it up, hebi-chan. We've got you matched blow-for-blow, and we both have plenty of other tricks up our sleeves." Mettaton taunted vehemently, like an actor playing a hero who was talking smack to the lead villain. Orochimaru grunted in pain as Alphys managed to shoot him in the leg, and the sword Mettaton's right forearm had folded into cut off his extended left arm. Both wounds promptly regenerated.

"Excellent. That makes three of us." The villain chuckled mirthlessly. He then let go of his sword, and charged Mettaton while Kusenagi zoomed after Alphys all on its own. The scientist quickly drew the pair of knives she carried, parrying the sword as best she could. Alphys grit her teeth in effort, making up for her lack of skill with her natural speed and strength. Even though she avoided more than a few minor injuries, Orochimaru had her on the ropes.

Mettaton, meanwhile, was having problems of his own. Orochimaru had definitely held back in his close-combat skills. He fought with all the tact and fluidity of an actual snake, albeit with a greater variety of attacks. Luckily, Mettaton's dancing skills had smoothly flowed into his aptitude for combat, and the two quickly began wearing each other down. After several minutes of protracted Taijutsu, the two paused briefly after they each threw a kick and wound up cancelling out each other's attacks. Orochimaru smiled.

"A valiant effort, but I'm afraid your friend's time is up." Orochimaru sneered. A moment later, Alphys cried out in pain as the sword slashed her leg, forcing her to kneel. A moment later, it rushed forward in a stab.

"ALPHYS!" Mettaton cried, abandoning Orochimaru and running to his creator's aid, only for Orochimaru to stop him by sweeping his legs. There wasn't enough time for Mettaton to intercept the attack.

But Alphys was still smirking confidently, and quickly raised her palm so it was in the sword's path.

" **Spatial Release: Subspace Prison**!" Alphys intoned. A split second before Kusenagi pierced her palm, a dark violet sphere of Charka formed in her palm. Kusenagi phased through it like thin air, but it never met any resistance. As soon as its hilt passed through the sphere, they both vanished. Orochimaru's sword was gone.

" _WHAT_?!" The Sannin spluttered, completely forgetting himself in a moment of enraged shock. But in that instant, Mettaton pounced, running him through the chest with his sword arm.

"…n-no…" he managed, grabbing the sword sticking through his chest to try and pull it free. But Mettaton's attack held.

"Game over, hebi-chan," the robot taunted, and his eyes glowed as he tapped into his limited Chakra supply. "Hyrda Blade." Before Orochimaru could leap away from Mettaton's sword, over a dozen other blades sprouted from it, impaling him all over his body from the inside out.

"Damn… you…" The Sannin spat, still alive but completely immobilized by Mettaton's attack. Alphys staggered to her feet, having healed her leg, and approached their horribly wounded opponent.

"Want to keep going, or should Mettaton superheat his sword until it incinerates you?" She growled. Normally, she wouldn't act so coldly towards a human, especially when they were dying. But Alphys had heard enough about the Akatsuki's deeds to know that Orochimaru deserved no mercy. The Sannin scowled, and his eyes suddenly started glowing. But just as quickly, the light faded from them. His expression contorted in pain, and his eyes turned completely black. After a few more moments, his expression went completely vacant, and his body melted into shadows.

Alphys and Mettaton looked startled, but they took the opportunity to finish recovering and make sure none of the room's important machinery was damaged. Finally, Mettaton asked the question on both of their minds.

"What just happened?"

* * *

MOMENTS BEFORE

* * *

Gaster watched Orochimaru's fatal wound as it was being delivered, all while fighting off his son Sans. He couldn't help but smile; it was exactly as he had planned. He sent Orochimaru to collect Frisk knowing that his pride and Alphys' courage would be his undoing. Thus, when the blow had been struck, Gaster removed himself from time and space, marking the location in his mind to ensure he could return once he finished his business. Then he strolled through the Void to the time and place of Orochimaru's fatal wound, and waited. He knew from his clairvoyance that the body thief would make his escape and find a new body. But he would have no choice but to step into the Void once his body expired, if only for a few minutes… and that was all Gaster needed.

Just like clockwork, Orochimaru's SOUL steadily emerged from his body. With the reflexes of a tensed cat, Gaster thrust his being at the Sannin's SOUL, doing the physical equivalent of bowling him over and forcing them both into Orochimaru's body.

"Gaster?! What is the meaning of this?" The Sannin's SOUL hissed, outraged that the Akatsuki's newcomer had once again been an imposition to him. Gaster clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"Once again, your arrogance blinds you, Orochimaru. Did you truly believe that Pain trusted your loyalty?" The doctor smugly retorted, to which the Sannin snarled impatiently.

"What are you playing at?!" He snapped. Gaster sighed, and with a brief stint of concentration, projected his memory into Orochimaru's mind.

* * *

FLASHBACK

* * *

"So, you're the one who seized control of the Hidden Lab?" Pain addressed Gaster. While the two had agreed to wait before meeting directly, Gaster had used his limitless knowledge of Jutsu to project an image of himself with which Pain could communicate; similar to a holographic video chat. Gaster nodded.

"Indeed. I am Dr. Windon D. Gaster. I was once an Ontological Physicist by trade, but my story as of now is exactly as you were told. An experiment gone wrong rendered me independent of time and space, and granted me the ability to see into the past and present." Gaster replied. Pain gave a small smile.

"I see. So tell me, Gaster. If you truly have such sight, who am I?" Pain replied, admittedly skeptical of the doctor's abilities. Gaster laughed.

"That's simple. Your name is Nagato. You are a descendant of the Uzumaki clan from the Amegakure, orphaned during the Second Shinobi World War when your parents tried to protect you from two Konoha shinobi who were scrounging for food. You killed them with the Rinnegan, and soon after were saved by your two future friends: Yahiko and Konan. The three of you dreamed of acquiring the power necessary to eliminate war, and you sought to acquire this power by training under Konoha's three legendary Sannin. At first, Jiraiya only agreed to teach you three to take care of yourselves, but he changed his mind after he watched you kill a Chunin from Iwagakure in self-defense. The three of you grew strong, and you founded an organization with the intent of bringing peace to the world: Akatsuki. Your cause made a great deal of progress for some time, but you were eventually betrayed by the leader of your own village: Hanzo of the Salamander. He grew jealous of the Akatsuki's popularity, and developed the delusion that his leadership would be threatened. So, he offered to help you negotiate with the still-warring villages of the time, but instead he captured Konan and threatened to kill her unless you took the life of your leader: Yahiko. This betrayal, compounded with Yahiko's death, made you into the person you are today: Pain." Gaster explained, easily summarizing the knowledge he had acquired regarding the Akatsuki's new leader. Pain listened thoughtfully, and when Gaster finished he sighed.

"Very impressive Gaster. You truly do know everything," Pain chuckled, then folded one hand behind his back and held up four of his fingers.

"How many fingers am I holding up behind my back? And my Rinnegan will tell me if you use any Jutsu." He challenged, snickering at the childish way he had chosen to confirm the monster's partial omniscience.

"Four." Gaster immediately answered. Pain laughed briefly.

"Very well. I believe you now. So tell me, Gaster. What do you want with the Akatsuki?" The Rinnegan user prodded, to which Gaster smirked once again.

"Honestly, I want to contribute to your cause. The things I have seen in the past have led me to the same conclusions that you have come to, Nagato. I too believe that the world can only be cleansed with fire. But above all else, I want to be the one that helps it all grow back from the ashes." Gaster explained, concisely yet adamantly. Pain raised an eyebrow, mildly impressed by the vehemence his guest spoke with. He sighed softly.

"Gaster, you do realize that there is no way to stop the blaze from rekindling? Short of their extinction, nothing can circumvent the consequences of human foolishness." Pain admonished somewhat bitterly. To his surprise, Gaster's eyes glinted with anticipation… and hunger.

"Of course. The fire has been burning since this world began turning. But if there is one thing I enjoy more than gardening with ashes, it is watching that fire burn away all its fuel." Gaster agreed, a slight edge of sadistic glee lining his voice. Pain smirked. He could clearly see that underneath his well-intended plans, the skeletal scientist enjoyed bringing strife to others. The Akatsuki leader saw a bit of himself in Gaster: good intentions, long-term goals and malicious proclivities.

"Gaster, I can see that you would be a good fit for the Akatsuki's ranks. But I can only assume you would prefer a position of authority?" Pain offered. When Gaster nodded, the Rinnegan user went on.

"I see. The only problem is the simple matter of why. Why should I trust you with such authority? What reason do I have to believe that you will not abuse your authority, or fail to fill its obligations?" Pain politely demanded of him. Bottom line: 'Why should I just _let you in_?' But Gaster's smile did not waver. If anything, it widened.

"Because I can give you what you want." The scientist replied simply. Pain almost snorted out of incredulity.

"Oh really? Then tell me, Your Omniscience. What can you give me that I desire?" He prodded in mock reverence. But to his surprise, Gaster replied immediately.

"Orochimaru's loyalty." He answered. Pain's amusement evaporated.

"Hm. In hindsight, I suppose you would know how much I would value that. But how could you possibly win the loyalty of someone as duplicitous as that snake?" Pain went on, venting his curiosity through mild impatience. Gaster's grin shrank into a cryptic smile.

"That depends on your willingness to incorporate the deed into my plans." He replied. The Akatsuki leader pondered this for a moment, and then finally sighed in resignation.

"Very well. I will send a nominally-sized squadron to the Hidden Lab, led by Orochimaru. If you can successfully execute the first phase of your plot, impress me with the results, and bring back an undyingly loyal Orochimaru, I will admit you as the head of the Akatsuki's ring bearers; one step below myself in authority." Pain conceded, not entirely convinced by the scientist's lack of explanation. To his mild annoyance, the monster's grin widened again.

"Lord Pain, I promise that you won't be disappointed."

* * *

PRESENT

* * *

As the memory faded, Orochimaru sneered.

"So, what? You think you can make me pander to the whims of those renegades like some feeble servant? I hope you realize that the Jutsu you subjugated the Hidden Lab with won't affect me." The Sannin almost laughed. But Gaster chuckled coldly and shook his head in disappointment.

"You poor, short-sighted old man… You assume that I'm going to employ persuasion." Gaster rumbled. Before Orochimaru could process the implication, eight strong hands gripped all of his limbs, and lifted him a few feet off the ground. He struggled, but Gaster had him immobilized in an eight-fold vice grip. The scientist strode towards him leisurely.

"Pain said he desired your loyalty, likely because your skills are an indispensible asset. But I don't need your life to acquire either of those things." Gaster growled, his fuchsia eyes flashing in murderous glee. It suddenly dawned on Orochimaru that he was in a very perilous situation. He tried to cast an **Abyssal Flame** Jutsu, but nothing happened. Gaster laughed again.

"Idiot. I have every possible advantage when removed from the physical plane. Even in your own mind, you couldn't possibly hope to defeat me." Gaster sneered smugly, his laughter persisting. The eerie sound of Gaster's cackling finally awakened fear within Orochimaru.

"Wh-what are you going to do to me?" He asked, his voice wavering against his will. Composed as he was, the Sannin couldn't help but react when confronted by his greatest fear: death. Gaster stopped laughing, but his smile remained.

"Oh, don't worry. You won't feel a thing. I'm just going to erase your cognition and self-awareness. Your SOUL will remain intact, but everything that makes up your consciousness will be no more. In its place will be an extension of my will. Thus, Pain will have your loyalty, because I will bring you back as a passive puppet that, free of my control, would be no better than a lobotomy patient." Gaster breezily informed his victim.

"NO," Orochimaru yelped, his mind exploding in terror when he confirmed that Gaster was indeed going to kill him… and he couldn't do a thing about it. "You're making a mistake! I am an asset to anyone's cause! You won't find anyone else more useful than me! I swear I won't get in your way!" Orochimaru insisted, aggressively yet hysterically denying Gaster's implication that his life was expendable. But the closer the scientist drew, the more his confidence wavered.

"I can help… I can… I can…" The Sannin tried again, but fear was destroying his ability to rationalize. His voice quavered. As Gaster came within a few steps of him, Orochimaru resorted to the only thing he had left: groveling. Using his fear to his advantage, the body thief choked down his pride and spoke his next sentence with complete sincerity.

" _Please don't kill me_..." Orochimaru implored, staking everything on his only remaining option: Gaster's pity. The scientist paused for a moment, his hand lowering from the Sannin's chest.

"Orochimaru, there is nothing you can say that will stop me from doing this. However, I cannot understand why you would _want_ me to desist. Even if you somehow gained true immortality, your arrogance would bar you from achieving your goal of learning every Jutsu. You would inevitably wind up imprisoned, or have your SOUL obliterated by someone smart and powerful enough. However, my power will give you both immortality _and_ boundless knowledge. Though you'll likely wind up burning in Hell, you can at least take comfort that I will give you what you've always wanted." Gaster admonished, and then thrust his hand into Orochimaru's head. It piercing though his skull like gelatin, offering no resistance when Gaster grasped his frontal lobe and "lobotomized" Orochimaru by hand. Though he didn't actually have a physical brain, Orochimaru's SOUL reflected its functions through its "body". Thus the projection of its frontal lobe housed the Sannin's volition and self-awareness. Having removed that part of his SOUL, Gaster unceremoniously crushed it in his fist.

Orochimaru's eyes immediately went blank. Smiling in satisfaction, Gaster quickly signed the Jutsu he had readied for this moment.

" **Mind Division Jutsu**." He incanted. Considering that he already existed as a mental projection, the Jutsu split Gaster into two of himself. While the first molded himself over Orochimaru, taking possession of his uncontrolled body and mind, the second Gaster returned to the time and space from which he came. Upon resuming his battle with Sans, Gaster retained his trademark look of smug satisfaction.

'All according to plan.' He thought gloatingly. 'Now all we have to do is wait until they finish evacuating Seishin.'

* * *

Aaaaand curtain. I know this is a horrible cliffhanger, but my brain ran dry on how to bring this chapter any farther. Besides, I'm sick of waiting to bring the characters of Naruto into the picture, and I know exactly how I'm going to make this work. So anyway…

Yeah, Orochimaru is dead now. I made him a pushover, you say? Well, it's exactly like Gaster said. The dude is an overconfident prick, like Dr. Doom. He has zero experience in fighting monsters, so he would have no idea how hard it is to kill one when they fight seriously (case in point from Undertale's canon: Undyne and Sans). Ergo, he would probably not expect Mettaton to be capable of mortally wounding him like that (honestly, did _anyone_ see that coming?). And there was no way in Hell he could have expected Gaster to incept his mind and erase his consciousness. So, in summation: Orochimaru got in over his head, and his arrogance let that escalate into his death. Gaster knew that right off the bat, and so he played Orochimaru right into his hands like a good mastermind.

Next time on 'The Village of Monsters, Men and SOULs' (god I sound like the end of a Naruto episode… -.-): what has been going on in Konoha all this time? We'll find out soon enough… *evil grin*

Laters!


	7. Problems

The wait is over. I'm not dead! I've just been dealing with a lot of crap in life right now (including one of the worst semesters of my academic career). I'm just amazed and thankful that this story hasn't stagnated due to the lack of updates. Seriously, I've breached 3k viewers at this point! Whooo! So, I'll update this while I can as thanks.

Danmaku-Overlord: Yes, precisely! And Dr. Gaster is basically going to become this fandom's equivalent of Dr. Doom, minus the arrogance. I guess that's a pretty great summation of how he was able to play Orochimaru into his hands so easily.

Multipule-Characters1-Acct: Yeah I expected most people could've guessed that Orochimaru would die (at least, the smart people like you would). But I was confident in the fact that no one would guess how he died (imagine how painful getting hit by Mettaton's Hydra Blade must have been *cringing face*).

Sabere Commander: We already talked this out in our PMs. So, let me sum it up for my other readers' benefit: no hard feelings, but I must object to your original argument.

In the words of San the Skeleton: here we go.

* * *

Chapter 6: Problems

†††††

SEVERAL (MORE) MONTHS LATER

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was having a particularly troubling day. Granted, the position of Hokage always came with myriad sources of stress. Not to mention that ever since Minato and Kushina died, the old man had felt much more of that stress weighing on his shoulders, and many more of his sixty-one years of age.

No, the source of his stress was going on overseas. The Land of Water had recently acquired a new community: Seishingakure no Sato. While it technically functioned as an independent nation (helped by it being an island off the coast of the mainland), the Land of Water had taken Seishin in as a vassal of sorts, in that the nation offered Seishin protection in return for their services. Normally, this would be no more significant than Konoha reaching out to aid a lesser village…

…except that Seishin was populated by monsters. Known by the term _Kemono_ , or "beast", many knew these creatures as the offspring of humans and demons (most notably the nine _Bijū_ ). The fact that the _Kemono_ had made peace with humans, and formed an inter-species community… well, that alone had made Seishin the talk of the Shinobi world. But a few months ago, the Akatsuki had invaded Seishin. And the Land of Water had recently called on Konoha's aid in winning it back. Apparently, some of the most powerful _Kemono_ criminals had spearheaded the assault, leaving the forces of a single Hidden Village insufficient. Though Hiruzen didn't want to believe it, he did not doubt that _Kemono_ with such power existed. He had read enough to know that they dwarfed humans in their ability to wield Chakra. The thought of what the strongest of the _Kemono_ could do sent shivers down the old man's spine. Even if he had a lot on his plate (including the approaching date of Naruto's enrollment in the Ninja Academy), the Third Hokage knew that this matter had to be addressed for the sake of political stability.

Thus, he had agreed to meet with a representative from Seishin, discuss the exact nature of their plight, and lay out a basic plan of action (ironing out the logistics would come later). In fact, they were scheduled to arrive any minute…

"Heya," a voice greeted from behind him. Hiruzen leapt to his feet in alarm, whirling to face the speaker with agility that defied his age.

"Woah, chill out, Hokage-san. I'm just here to talk, make no bones about it." The voice quickly placated him. The Third Hokage thought he would be prepared for the bizarre appearance of his monstrous guest; but a portly skeleton wearing a blue parka, black running shorts and pink slippers? Hiruzen honestly couldn't claim to have expected that.

"Er… Sans, I presume?" the old man ventured, extending a hand to his guest with a hint of hesitation.

"Yup. That's my name, don't wear it out." Sans confirmed breezily, accepting the Kage's handshake. The old man cleared his throat.

"Okay, down to business. The Land of Water is asking us to send reinforcements to help Seishin. What we need is a good idea of the situation and what exactly we should expect." He began succinctly. Sans chuckled.

"Straight to the point, huh? No prob'." He replied, and began explaining without preamble. Hiruzen listened intently as Sans explained the events of the Genocide timeline, the events surrounding Frisk's latest arrival, the relevant details of Seishin's founding and, of course, the story behind Gaster, Flowey and their conquest of their home. When he had finished, the Hokage looked mildly amazed and even a bit stunned.

"Alright. If what you say about Gaster and Flowey is true, then what do you propose we do?" He asked. Sans shrugged.

"Simple. We need the help of your best Shinobi, and someone who knows their stuff with sealing techniques. After all, waking up Frisk is our best bet for turning the tide here. And if we break the seal that's keeping the SOULs inside Flowey, Gaster won't wanna risk losing them to Frisk." Sans explained. For the first time, Hiruzen narrowed his eyes in disquiet.

"You seem to put a lot of stock in the capabilities of this Frisk child. Even if he has a restless spirit of Determination within him, you mentioned that his age has regressed to that of a small child…" Hiruzen paused a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Six years old." Sans confirmed.

"…right." The Hokage continued. "My point is, you're making a lot of assumptions based on the capabilities of Frisk. I'm skeptical that one child can even be worth a seal of such strength, let alone be capable of liberating an entire city." When Hiruzen finished his calm retort, Sans just stared at him for a second. Then his one pupil flashed blue, and the Hokage felt something akin to a large fist curling around his being.

"I didn't expect you to be this bone-headed, Hokage-san." Sans' voice was all but quivering with restrained anger. "But I don't mean to sound unreasonable, so let me cut this a little further to the bone. Frisk's a lot more than a normal human child. He was around nine years old when he fell into the Underground, and he managed to survive the entire ordeal on his own. And that includes two monsters with Chunin-level combat training; a Tsuchigumo; a robot equipped with enough skill and technology to keep any of _your kind_ on their toes; our current king, Asgore, who is probably about as strong as one of the Kage when push comes to shove; and a sociopathic maniac with the powers of a god, who I hasten to add that Frisk fought in multiple timelines, including this one. If that's not enough, that "ghost" managed to take control of Frisk, kill the entire population of the Underground… and then tear apart the fabric of space-time. Do you really need any further proof that this kid is a big deal?" Once he had finished, Sans released his hold on the elderly Shinobi, who sighed in relief. The last thing he needed was to cause an international incident with the Land of Water.

"…alright. I cannot refute the point you're getting at. But you still leave a lot to be desired in the realm of credibility." Hiruzen retorted, carefully massaging the stiffness out of his shoulders. Sans sighed.

"Okay. So, what can we do to convince ya? Name your price, cuz' I promised Frisk that I would bring him back." Sans replied flatly. The Hokage thought for a moment, and then the answer came to him.

"I propose a show of trust. We will follow your plan to awaken Frisk and seal that Chara creature inside of him. But in exchange, you will send Frisk to learn and work as a Shinobi here in Konoha." The old man suggested. Sans' smile wavered.

"Seriously?" He asked leadingly. Hiruzen nodded.

"Yes. If Frisk wields as much power as you claim, it would be wise to keep him under the supervision of a full-scale Hidden Village. After all, I'm sure you understand we are better equipped to deal with the potential consequences here in Konoha than you are in Seishin." Sans mulled over the Kage's words. As he pondered it, the skeleton realized that sending Frisk to Konoha actually wasn't a bad idea. With the progress she had made in developing teleportation technology (which had enabled Sans to warp all the way to Konoha), Alphys could easily create a method by which Frisk could readily visit home. And even if he didn't like to admit it, Sans knew that if something were to go wrong with Frisk's… tenant, a major Hidden Village like Konoha would have a better chance of responding effectively compared to the fledgling community of Seishin. Toriel would understand, though she would be pressuring Alphys to finish the warp gate as soon as possible…

"Alright, old man. You got yourself a deal." Sans relented, offering his hand to the Hokage once more.

* * *

Pain gave a start when his door was opened, and his jaw dropped in shock when he saw who had opened it.

" _Orochimaru_?!" he spluttered in disbelief. The pale Sannin shrugged.

"Not exactly, Nagato. You see, this body is now under new management, so to speak." The intruder spoke in an unmistakable voice. The Akatsuki's leader could hardly believe his ears.

"G-Gaster-san?" he gaped. "Orochimaru" nodded, and suddenly his appearance shifted. He acquired Gaster's robe-like version of the Akatsuki coat, and his golden serpentine eyes turned fuchsia. Holes appeared in each of his palms, each describing a perfect circle. Finally, the markings on his face were joined by the two parallel cracks that decorated Gatser's eyes: one above his right and the other below his left.

"Yes, Nagato. And in case you're wondering how this fulfills your request, I have retained all of the Sannin's knowledge and skill, up to and including his biology. If you want proof of that much, here." With a wave of his hand, Kusenagi appeared in his grasp, which the doctor tossed to his unofficial host. "Feel free to run me through and watch what happens." Eager to vent his frustration over Gaster's smugness, Pain leapt to his feet, approached Gaster and stabbed him cleanly through the heart. Gaster merely smiled, and an unharmed duplicate of the doctor crawled out from the mouth of his former body: one of Orochimaru's signature contingencies for fatal wounds. With a sigh, Pain returned Kusenagi to Gaster and sat back down.

"Very well done, Gaster. I look forward to seeing the services you will offer to the Akatsuki. For all intents and purposes, I am giving you authority on par with that of Tobi." Pain announced, his resignation changing to restrained eagerness. Oh, the things they could accomplish with Gaster in their ranks.

"Thank you, Nagato-sama. Now, I'm sure you're wondering about the next phase of our plan." Gaster went on, his smug demeanor seeming far more eerie on a human face. Pain nodded.

"Indeed. And please, out of respect, address me as Pain." The Rinnegan user prompted.

"Of course. Anyway, the next phase of our plan is to allow our opponents to make their next move. Even if this mortal form hampers the clarity of my… sight, I know that our enemies in Seishin are seeking aid from Konoha. We will yield the city to them, but our defeat will deflect suspicion away from the arrival of our other ally…"

"Asriel." Pain remembered.

"…and it will bring another important piece into play; one of just as much value as the Kyuubi." Gaster finished. Pain rolled his eyes.

"It's just one surprise after another with you, isn't it? You're referring to that demon from the last timeline, Chara, right?" Pain replied indicatively. Gaster nodded.

"Yes. Once our opponents have made their next move, we will have access to Chara as a resource equitable to another Jinchuriki. That is why I tasked Orochimaru with capturing Frisk. On the off-chance he succeeded, the consequences of that failure would be off-set by gaining immediate possession of Chara's power." Gaster went on. Pain nodded thoughtfully.

"Very good, Gaster. I should put you in charge of our more... strategic operations. In another life, you would be unmatched as a general." He commented, a joking tone on his lips. Gaster's smirk broadened into a smile.

"Indeed."

* * *

Chara laid on her back, sighing in boredom. It was boring to be trapped inside of Frisk's body, despite the fact that it gave her total control of Frisk's mind. With nothing to occupy her time, the Fallen Child reflected briefly on how her situation resembled solitary confinement. All thanks to that stupid Frisk and his stupid bravery and his _stupidly_ resilient SOUL. She still couldn't believe how Frisk had escaped her. Sure, their struggle had freed his SOUL for a few moments, but she never could have guessed that her own spirit would remain trapped in his body just because it was still alive. But, when she thought about it, it made sense. Without a SOUL, her existence amounted to a sentient mass of Determination and Chakra. Since Frisk's body still had an active Chakra system, she couldn't just _leave_. So Frisk had willingly given up his SOUL and left Chara trapped beneath the burden of his body's life. Worst of all, she couldn't control the stupid meat sack unless she had a SOUL. It was like trying to drive a car with no pedals, steering wheel, or gear shift. The car would still run, but there was nothing she could use to make it go.

So, Chara was left alone with her thoughts for quite some time. On a more and more frequent basis, however, those thoughts had strayed to her first life: her life with Asriel. The time from her falling into the Underground until her death was the one thing Chara genuinely missed about her life. After all, the people from the village she grew up in feared and abused her. She had been born with a power that they considered her a witch for possessing. Power that enabled her to achieve the limitless might she attained through the Genocide Route. It was the very same power that allowed her to form a bond with the Anomaly. Though she did not entirely understand it herself, Chara had eventually come to give it a concise definition. It was something she had termed "Aether". While most Chakra had some affinity to the elements, like Fire and Water, Aether was a type that held an affinity to Chakra itself. In many ways, Chara considered it to be the purest form of Chakra in existence. And by reviewing her memories carefully, Chara soon learned (well, she had a hunch) that Aether was the connection between SOULs (and by extension Chakra) and Determination. It was also the very power which the Anomaly employed to meddle with the timeline. Though it was nothing but educated guessing, Chara had come to accept it as the truth. After all, in her childhood, Chara's use of Aether had allowed her to communicate and interact with the SOULs of the deceased, and accomplish many superhuman feats that, thanks to her Determination, openly defied logic. After many years of abuse for her talents, Chara had been driven away from her own village by everyone, including her own human parents!

'People always fear what they don't understand…' The girl mused glumly. Still, her use of Aether had helped Chara to gain the acceptance of monsters. After all, even if she hadn't told them everything, they still recognized her as an outcast of human society; someone who understood man's innate bent towards cruelty and injustice.

Try as she might, Chara couldn't escape the ache left in her mind by those memories. Yet she missed her friend, Asriel, most of all. Everyone had regarded them as siblings, but Chara resented the convention of family. Granted, she had savored the Dreemurrs' familial love and affection above all else. However, the treatment she had received from her village, not to mention her own family, led to her resenting the idea behind blood relations. Thus, associating the love of the Dreemurrs' with the idea of being "related" always left a bitter taste in her mouth. That's why she and Asriel had always thought of themselves as friends rather than siblings, even if Chara had agreed to liking the idea of being Asriel's blood relation. After all, if Chara's original parents had treated her like Asgore and Toriel did, she never would have run away.

All things considered, Chara had loved Asriel. Even if she had no SOUL to manifest the feelings, her mind continued to cling to that idea. She cared about him, she wanted him to be happy, she wanted to protect and him make sure he could live his life just like everyone else. According to Toriel, that's what love meant. Chara chuckled bitterly. To think: she had both kinds of love (caring and violence), and yet she did so without a SOUL (an impossibility that she had eventually grown bored of pondering).

Despite how much it hurt, Chara's memories kept wandering back to her final moments of life.

* * *

FLASHBACK

* * *

"I don't like this plan anymore, Chara. I… I don't want you to die!" Asriel sobbed, clutching her hand desperately. Despite the pain roiling in her body and leeching away at her consciousness, Chara forced herself to smile.

"I-it's okay, Asriel… I'm doing this… for you… For everyone… You remember what Mom said… "The easy path and the right path travel in opposite directions"…" Chara choked out, her voice weak. Asriel kept crying.

"I don't care. It doesn't have to be this way. I don't want to live through something like this. Not in a world without you." Asriel pleaded, his tears falling to Chara's shirt. Her temper stirred, but it was held back by how much she pitied her friend.

"Asriel… don't you remember… why I'm doing this? It's for… all of us… so you can all… go free… It's not like we can… go back, and pretend this… never happened, Azzie… And this _hurts_ … My body… probably hurts as much as… your heart… But I don't care… I want you to be happy Azzie… So please… let me finish this… for you…" Chara replied, her voice and expression filled with open-hearted sincerity. Asriel's crying got worse, but something in his eyes hardened. Despite his grief, Asriel was filled with Determination.

"O-okay… what should I do once I absorb your SOUL, Chara?" He asked, doing his best to enunciate through his sobbing. Chara felt her own breathing start to hitch. Now was the time.

"It's like I told everyone else, A-Azzie… T-take me to… the village… closest to… Mount Ebott… a-and… lay me to rest… in one of the… golden flowerbeds… The rest will… happen on its own…" Chara managed, already imagining the screams of horror Asriel's SOUL-powered form would elicit. Asriel nodded in comprehension. Apparently he had thought her final request was a lie to keep their plan a secret.

"O-okay…" he whispered. Chara nodded, feeling her life finally ebb away.

"It's almost time… get ready, Asriel… But, there's just… one more thing…" Chara gasped softly, her voice weakening even further. Asriel leaned forward to make sure he heard, nodding expectantly.

With the last of her flagging strength, Chara sat up and hugged Asriel as hard as she could, ignoring how weak she felt.

" _I love you_ , _Asriel_ …" she whispered through her dying breath. And as she felt her heartbeat fade completely, Chara slipped into the embrace of death with Asriel's reply ringing in her ears.

"I love you too, Chara. More than I can ever say."

* * *

PRESENT

* * *

Chara felt her mind burn for want of a SOUL to process her emotions. And even with that lack, her last memory left the Fallen Child curled in a fetal position, weeping heavily.

* * *

Rats and blue blazes that was feels-heavy. I'm gonna be honest, if Undertale had a higher-resolution remake with that memory as a cut scene, it would bring me to tears. Just saying… She may be fueled by hatred in the Genocide Route, but geez… Poor Chara.

Sorry if the scene with Hiruzen was kinda weak, but Sans and he have a pretty similar personality. And that personality is a little flat in grim situations like that. Just look at Sans' dialogue during his boss fight.

Also, not much actually happened in Konoha. Mostly because this story is centered around Undertale's plot at the moment. Plus Naruto's titular character wasn't really a big part of the story at this point, so there wasn't much for me to work with.

Lastly, Chara. The Aether headcanon was my way of explaining the outrageous power at Chara's disposal. After all, Flowey has around the same level of LV as Chara and he never mentioned tearing reality apart. The same goes with Frisk's Determination, in that all he could do against Asriel's second form was struggle. I figured that Chara's power had to be something that linked both her Determination and the power of her LV. Then I realized it should also explain Chara's connection to the Anomaly, and have something to do with Chakra (because Naruto), and I thought, "Hey, Aether!" After all, if you had "Chakra Release" Chakra (or "SOUL Release" if the other name is too confusing) and Chara's absurd Determination, it would basically accomplish the same thing as Aether (Aether is basically the energy that omnipotent beings use to control the universe; think of it as the equivalent of Undertale's coding, but for reality). So I hope that makes sense.

And that's that. Sorry for taking so long to get this update out. Hopefully I can do better this semester and update with more regularity. Toodles!

P.S. I've actually played through Undertale now. I accidentally killed Toriel and beat the crap out of Undyne (without killing her) on my first run. And I didn't die once against Omega Flowey. I did a Pacifist Route right after that, but I don't have the time or the motivation to do a Genocide Route yet.


End file.
